There will be no gentle return to action for Jim Crowley when the champion Flat jockey makes his comeback on Wednesday, six weeks after the horrific pile-up that broke his nose and left Freddy Tylicki paralysed below the waist. Crowley is booked for seven rides, four at Lingfield on Wednesday afternoon and a further three at Kempton’s evening meeting.
The 38-year-old expects to ride in Qatar and Dubai in the new year and plans to be race-fit by the time he gets to the Middle East. While likely to be sharper for the outing he may nonetheless be able to get on the scoreboard immediately as his first ride, Ettu, was trading at only 5-4 when betting opened on Tuesday night.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back,” Crowley said. “I thought I’d have a nice, easy day coming back … I wasn’t expecting so many rides, but I’ve got to start somewhere.”
There was reason to fear a much more significant injury to Crowley in the immediate aftermath of the Kempton pile-up on the last day of October; he was treated alongside Tylicki on the track for an hour before being taken to hospital with a suspected spinal injury. In the event he was able to return home to Sussex that same night, his agent describing him as feeling “like he’s had six rounds in the ring with Anthony Joshua”.
“I was laid up for a few weeks and I took a bit of a bashing,” Crowley said on Tuesday. “I started off riding my children’s ponies, then moved on to the bigger ones. I’m fairly fit and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Crowley’s status has changed since he was last seen on a horse, the veteran having been signed up to replace Paul Hanagan as first jockey to Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum. The main benefit of such a post is generally thought to be the chance to get on regally bred stock of the kind that might win a Classic, but Crowley would dearly like to defend his hard-won title while also fulfilling his obligations in the famous blue and white colours.
“Willie Carson was champion when he was retained so it’s certainly not impossible. I’ll do my best to retain it, but riding for Sheikh Hamdan is my priority. Last year I didn’t think about the championship until after Glorious Goodwood [in late July], so it will be much the same this year. We’ll get Goodwood out of the way and see where we are. If we’re close enough, we’ll give it a go.”
Carson was among those paying tribute to Walter Swinburn as racing came to terms with the loss of the Derby-winning jockey, who died on Monday at the age of 55. Alluding to Swinburn’s Epsom win on Shergar when the jockey was 19, Carson said: “He rode a Derby winner before I even rode a winner at the same age. Isn’t that incredible? He got more excitement out of the big days than he did on the little days. He was as cool as cool could be.”
Criquette Head-Maarek, who provided Swinburn with a Guineas success on Hatoof, described him as “one of the greatest ever jockeys”, a sentiment echoed by Saeed bin Suroor, trainer of Swinburn’s third Derby winner, Lammtarra. “He was one of the best jockeys in the world,” said Bin Suroor. “He proved that on Lammtarra, but he proved it many times. I used to travel Europe with him. He was a very good friend and we’ll miss him a lot.”
There was no update from the British Horseracing Authority with regard to the penalty published on Monday in relation to the trainer Jim Best. The disciplinary panel said his licence should be suspended for six months, a less onerous punishment than an outright ban from the sport for which the BHA had argued. There was some suspicion on Monday that the panel might not have understood the distinction.
A BHA spokesman said a final answer would be provided with the reasons for the penalty to be provided by the panel this week. Best’s lawyers want the position clarified before making a final decision on whether to appeal against the verdict handed down on Monday.
Best maintains he did not tell a jockey to stop two horses in December but, after a five-day hearing last month, the panel ruled he had done so.
