Jump Jockey Sparks Compensation Bid After Head Injury

A winning jockey is launching a compensation bid against the operator of a racetrack after his horse fell following a hurdle jump in November 2006.

The man, who had a carved a successful career as a jockey, suffered head injuries and a shattered hip at the Handicap Hurdle on Cheltenham racetrack.

Following the incident, which saw him thrown to the ground hitting a metal base, the jockey had to be put into an induced coma.

The man, who is now a trainer, took his case to London’s Court of Appeal after the company who owned the track was acquitted of any negligence following a ruling at Oxford Country Court last year.

The QC acting on behalf of the jockey said that the company should have been liable under the health and safety at work regulations. He said that the argument for the jockey was quite simple in that the accident was preventable. Arguing that there was ‘no need for the hurdle to be where it was’.

Conversely, the barrister acting for the defendants said that it had complied with regulations stipulated by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

No decision was reached reading the personal injury compensation for which the claimant is pursuing tens of thousands of pounds. The court stated that judgment was reserved until a later date.

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Published on 16th February 2015.