Praise for medical teams after Knavesmire's worst fall in decades

Crowley was riding William Haggas-trained race favourite Almeraq when a gap he was attempting to go through closed in front of him, causing his mount to clip heels, fall and roll over Crowley. Whelan was following close behind on Henry Candy's Tiger Bay.

Speaking earlier this week from hospital, Crowley said surgeons had operated on his pelvis, which is broken in two places, as well as on his fractured left leg tibia and fibia, by inserting a metal rod.

He said he had also received surgery for internal bleeding, but added everything had settled down and that he was looking forward to getting home and starting what would be a slow rehabilitation process before he could get back in the saddle.

Meanwhile, Whelan has had a full ankle reconstruction and will not be able to put any weight on his left leg for three to four months. He said he believes he will need further surgery on his ankle and knee after one doctor had described the injury as the worst he had ever since.

The British Horseracing Authority states, as with all elite sports and activities involving horses, an element of risk cannot be avoided.

However, it says it is the duty of everyone involved in the sport to ensure everything possible is done to minimise avoidable risk and to ensure that no injury or fatality occurs which could reasonably have been prevented.

Officials said the jockeys had tumbled to the ground at 40mph at the two furlong marker. Both horses got up and galloped away and were found to have escaped serious injury, but both jockeys received immediate medical care on the turf, before being transported to Leeds General Infirmary.

Mr Derby said every fall in such circumstances would have an inquiry, which had been opened and postponed following the Garrowby Stakes as the British Horseracing Authority stewards had been unable to speak to the injured jockeys.

He said: “Just because a horse has clipped heels doesn’t mean there’s been a riding offence.”

A study published in the British Medical Journal of 234 British professional jockeys over the decade to 2017 found of the 278 racecouse injuries 82 per cent happened in-race, 11 per cent in the stalls and six per cent in the parade ring.

There were 1,634 falls, 92 per cent of which were in jump racing. Falls in flat racing only happened 1.8 in every 1,000 rides, but there were over five times the frequency of higher injuries falls in flat than jump racing

Mr Derby said the speed and unexpected nature of falls on a flat course could exacerbate injuries.

He said: “High-speed falls in flat racing are rare. When a jockey is approaching a fence at Wetherby he’s more expecting that he might fall.

"We have a hugely talented, well-skilled and qualified medical team, with doctors and Yorkshire ambulances following the race and first-aiders, so two doctors were on the scene of the incident within seconds. On a big race day we have five ambulances. The reason we were able to resume racing within 20 minutes of the incident was because we could redeploy two ambulances that were on crowd duty."

Every year before racing starts, the racecourse gets the medical, ambulances and veterinary teams to the track for a dress rehearsal in which retired racehorses from the New Beginnings centre near York gallop and people act as injured jockeys.

To hone the team’s skills, various scenarios, such as a fall on a high speed straight or a collapse in the stalls, are run through.

Both jockeys have paid tribute to the "excellent” immediate care they received on Knavesmire as well as at the hospital.

Mr Derby said he could not remember as serious an incident during his two decades working at the track.

He added: “It’s a key priority for us as an organisation, in terms of the veterinary and medical care. On that Sunday we were incredibly proud of the response.

“Once we had established both jockeys were conscious and talking there was a collective sigh of relief from everyone attending on a busy Sky Bet Series day.”