Injured jockey Freddie Tylicki left paralysed after horrific Kempton fall

Exactly seven years after he was crowned champion apprentice while attached to Malton trainer Richard Fahey’s yard, Tylicki remains in intensive care in St George’s Hospital, London, after undergoing surgery.

Lisa Hancock, CEO of the Injured Jockeys Fund, said in a statement last night: “His surgical team have confirmed that Freddy has a T7 paralysis, which means he has movement in the upper half of his body but not his lower.

“His family would like to thank the St George’s staff for the care he has received. As this is a very difficult time for Freddy and his family, they would like to thank everyone for their good wishes.”

Born in Germany – his father was a three-times champion jockey in his homeland – Tylicki moved to Ireland with his family as a 14-year-old.

His first significant role in racing was as an apprentice to Dermot Weld, in County Kildare, before he assumed a role at Jim Bolger’s County Carlow yard.

In 2008, the rider moved to North Yorkshire and was apprenticed to the aforementioned Fahey, for whom he rode his first British winner on Kings College Boy in June that year.

A month later, Fahey and Tylicki teamed up to win the John Smith’s Cup with Flying Clarets, the springboard to champion apprentice success the following year following a tough tussle with David Probert which went down to the wire.

In 2014, the jockey decided to launch a freelance career in Newmarket and this season made the breakthrough into the higher echelons of the sport.

He claimed a first Group One victory aboard James Fanshawe’s Speedy Boarding at Deauville in August and then secured a second top-level Flat triumph when the same filly won the Prix de l’Opera on Arc weekend at Chantilly in October.

Reacting to the news, Fahey said: “It is very sad. Freddy is a tough cookie. He was a cracking fellow in his time with us and was very dedicated and driven in everything he did.

“I’m sure Freddy will make the best of it as he made the best out of everything.”

Yorkshire challenger Mondialiste could not face a tougher task in tonight’s Breeders’ Cup Turf in the Californian sunshine at Santa Anita.

Rivals to David O’Meara’s stable star include Aidan O’Brien’s defending champion Found and stablemate Highland Reel, first and second in Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Yet what gives O’Meara, and big race jockey Danny Tudhope, grounds for optimism is Mondialiste’s exceptional form in North America which is in a different league to the horse’s domestic runs.

Victorious in last year’s Group One Woodbine Mile in Toronto, the horse was then runner-up to Tepin in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

The horse’s best form this year came in August when landing Chicago’s Arlington Million, another Group One contest, before a fourth place finish in Kentucky.