Both the risks and hardships that jockeys face on a daily basis to ensure that we all have a sport to follow and enjoy have been brought into sharp relief by events over the weekend, as racing hopes for some positive news on Graham Lee after his fall as the stalls opened for a race at Newcastle on Friday evening.
The Injured Jockeys Fund said in a statement on Sunday that Lee, a Grand National-winning rider over jumps before a successful switch to ride on the Flat, had “suffered an unstable cervical fracture causing damage to the spinal cord, as well as damage to blood vessels in the mid-cervical region.”
The statement continued: “He remains in ITU with respiratory support at the Royal Victoria infirmary hospital in Newcastle, but it has been possible to reduce his sedation.
“This is a very serious injury and at this early time, it is not possible to predict the extent of long-term recovery.”
Lee’s injury is a reminder that risk is a constant companion for all jockeys, while the news a day earlier that Luca Morgan, the champion conditional over jumps last season, has retired from the saddle at just 22 years of age highlighted the daily struggle that many riders endure against the needle on the weighing room scales.
Morgan added his name to a roll of honour that includes Harry Cobden, Sam Twiston-Davies and Brian Hughes when he secured the conditionals’ title in the spring, but told the Racing Post last week that his body paid the price.
“After [the last day of the season at] Sandown [in April], I had a week off and went to Tenerife with my family,” Morgan said. “I didn’t eat like crazy and I was trying to mind it because I knew I had rides waiting for me, but I got back and weighed myself and I had 17lb to lose in two days.”
Morgan then suffered a foot injury and though he was using the facilities at Oaksey House in Lambourn to work his way back to fitness, “the weight came off but not enough.” He added: “I just couldn’t see myself being able to do it any longer. It’s not healthy, I’m not a healthy person at the moment and my body is crying out for help.”
Sedgefield 12.15 El Jefe 12.50 Lahire 1.25 Heartbreak Kid 2.00 Breeze Of Wind 2.35 Toscan Genius 3.10 Ballylinch 3.40 Horn Cape
Market Rasen 12.30 Dr Seb 1.05 Southern Bablyon 1.40 Sure Touch 2.15 Caro Des Flos 2.50 Galia Des Liteaux 3.21 Wolfspear 3.51 General Hubble
Taunton 12.40 Merry Monty 1.15 Matterhorn 1.50 Breaking Cover 2.25 Dr T J Eckleburg 3.00 Sun Joy 3.33 Getthepot 4.05 Jaminska (nb)
Chelmsford 4.30 Montecristo Gold 5.00 Rochelle 5.30 Tayanna 6.00 G’daay (nap) 6.30 Intoxicata 7.00 Outreach 7.30 Habooba 8.00 Lion Ring 8.30 Stintino Sunset
The maintenance of a talented, dedicated and healthy population of riders is an issue of existential importance for the sport, and while we often think of struggles with the scales as primarily a problem for Flat jockeys, Morgan’s experience clearly suggests otherwise. His lowest normal riding weight was 10st 9lb and he is 5ft 11in (180cm) tall, which is above the average for a 22-year-old but hardly exceptional, and scarcely any taller than Tony McCoy, the most successful jockey in National Hunt history.
In his younger days in particular, McCoy sometimes wasted all the way down to 10st 1lb, and the ghostly pallor that his skin would assume when he did so was disturbing, to say the least. Morgan, it seems, has reached the conclusion that in his case, the possible rewards of a jump jockey’s life are not worth the inevitable sacrifices, and shown considerable courage and maturity to do so. Those characteristics should serve him well if, or when, he pursues a career as a trainer at some point in the future.
An increasing number of riders under both codes, though, are likely to face similar forks in the road, and at earlier stages of their careers, at time goes on.
Cheltenham 1.10 White Rhino (nap) 1.45 Madara 2.20 Mighty Tom (nb) 2.55 Galvin 3.30 Kinbara 4.05 Redbridge Rambler
Doncaster 12.30 Karaktere D’Enfer 1.00 Fearless Action 1.35 Rascal 2.10 Abaya Du Mathan 2.45 Vision Of Hope 3.20 Gaboriot 3.53 Burrows Hall
Newcastle 1.20 Brunello Breeze 1.55 Sagauteur 2.30 Assailant 3.05 Animato 3.40 Brooklyn Nine Nine 4.15 Involvement 4.50 Welcome Dream 5.20 Goldmine Girl 5.52 Wichahpi
Wolverhampton 4.30 Show Compassion 5.00 Global Effort 5.30 Timeless Charm 6.00 Roman Secret 6.30 Come On John 7.00 Graffiti 7.30 Flatley 8.00 Lady Valentine 8.30 Just Janet
It will be more important than ever that jockeys’ voices are heard and understood by the sport’s senior executives, something that has not been straightforward in recent years as the Professional Jockeys’ Association struggled with internal wrangles. The process of normalising relations between the British Horseracing Authority and the PJA, which started when Paul Struthers, the PJA’s former chief executive, rejoined on a consultancy basis in June, will hopefully continue at pace.
Frankie may find going tough in the jungle
The possibility that Frankie Dettori might join Ant & Dec and assorted celebs in the Australian jungle this year has been floating around since he announced what turned out to be his non-retirement nearly a year ago, when it was seen as a good way to kickstart a post-racing media career. As it turns out, what is still just a strongly rumoured appearance will be more of a stopover on the way to California, where Dettori will be based from opening day at Santa Anita on 26 December.
Dettori is the 5-1 third-favourite to be crowned King of the Jungle in the early betting, which feels like a very thin price given that he struggled with the experience of incarceration the Celebrity Big Brother house a decade ago. That, though, was at a much more difficult point in his career, and while the ultimate power in reality shows always rests with the editors, it should be intriguing to see the extent to which the jungle experience teases out some of the more interesting and complex aspects of Dettori’s character, from below the permanently-bubbly public face that will be the limit of most viewers’ awareness.
