Jim Crowley is back at his home in Sussex having escaped with just a broken nose after an appalling pile-up at Kempton on Monday afternoon. The newly crowned champion of British Flat racing was one of two jockeys rushed to hospital after the incident with suspected spinal injuries, the other being Freddy Tylicki, who remains at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.

Crowley’s agent, Tony Hind, told the Press Association on Tuesday morning: “Jim had a scan - no broken bones, all clear. All he has done is broken his nose. It’s a massive relief.

“I’ll speak to him later. His wife rang me this morning and he was still asleep. He’ll call me back in his own time and we’ll take it from there. He feels like he’s had six rounds in the ring with Anthony Joshua at the moment.

“We were going to carry on [riding on the all-weather] for a bit, but I’ll wait until he speaks to me.”

Such news about Crowley did not seem possible in the immediate aftermath of Kempton’s third race, when both men were treated on the track for more than an hour before being placed on spinal boards and transferred to the major trauma unit at St George’s, Crowley by road and Tylicki by air ambulance.



A hospital spokesman confirmed on Tuesday morning that Tylicki remained in intensive care.

Tylicki appeared to bear the brunt of the incident, which occurred at about the halfway point of a mile-long race, as the tightly packed 12-runner field rounded the bend out of the back straight. His mount, Nellie Deen, collided with the leader and eventual winner, Madame Butterfly, and fell, landing across her jockey and bringing down Crowley’s mount, Electrify.

Skara Mae, ridden by Steve Drowne, was also brought down, while Ted Durcan was unseated from Sovrano Dolce in the resulting mêlée. Drowne was unhurt but Durcan has confirmed that he has suffered an ankle injury.

He said: “I fractured by right ankle, but it could have been a lot worse. I kind of suspected I’d fractured it straight away, but because the doctors were obviously looking after the other two lads I was happy enough to hobble back into the weighing room and make my own way to Addenbrooke’s [Hospital].

“I don’t know how long I’ll be out, but it’s not the end of the world and I just hope Freddy is okay.”

Drowne recalled the incident ahead of making a swift return at Wolverhampton.

“Basically, Freddy’s horse clipped heels. It happens a few times in a race and he was unlucky he didn’t find a leg and went down,” Drowne told At The Races. “On the all-weather it’s tight so when one goes down a few go down. Unfortunately he was at the front of the pack and a few horses went over him.

“Freddy never moved from the fall and Jim was in a bit of pain and was worried about his neck. Lucky enough, me and Ted were walking wounded. The doctors were quite concerned when they got to Freddy and called for the air ambulance really quick and did everything right. They were on to us straight away.

“I’m fine, a bit sore as you’d expect. I got away very lightly, especially when you compare it to Freddy. The lads knew it was bad. It was very quiet in the jockeys’ room, very subdued. I’d left by the time they’d called off the rest of the meeting. It didn’t surprise me.

“It was certainly the worst atmosphere I’d been in. The lads suspected Freddy was badly hurt. I reckon every 500 rides you are due a fall. It was one of those things and it was unfortunate it turned out as bad as it did.”

Barney Clifford, a former jockey who now works as racing director at Kempton, was visibly shaken as he spoke on Racing UK about what had happened. Referring to Crowley and Tylicki, he said: “They both give their consent to me and the doctor to update their next of kin, family members et cetera. I can’t say any more than that at this stage.

“The reality is, Flat or National Hunt racing, it’s a dangerous sport. I guess you don’t expect those things to happen on the Flat and, when they do clip heels, if that was the cause of the problem, it can be a concertina effect. I just hope and pray that both Freddy and Jim are OK.”

At the subsequent inquiry the stewards interviewed Graham Gibbons, who rode Madame Butterfly, and Pat Cosgrave, who rode the eventual runner-up, Cutty Sark, and was just outside Tylicki when he fell. Having watched footage of the race, including some that was not publicly available, the stewards concluded the incident was “accidental” and took no further action.

While there was no suggestion that the track itself was unsafe, the remaining four races were abandoned because, in the words of the stewards, “the overwhelming feeling of the jockeys was that racing should not continue as a mark of respect to those injured”. The horses involved reportedly suffered no serious injuries.

Crowley is a former jump jockey who switched to Flat racing a decade ago, having discovered he was light enough to get plenty of opportunities in that sphere. He grafted his way to a first championship this year, his title chance having been assessed at 66-1 by bookmakers in the spring.

The 30-year-old Tylicki was champion apprentice in 2009 but his career lost some momentum the following year when he broke a shoulder in a fall at Musselburgh and was out of action for six months. He raised his profile afresh this year through his association with the filly Speedy Boarding, partnering her to two Group One victories in France.

While falls in Flat racing are much less common than in jump racing, the risk of injury is high when they do occur, because the horses move faster and there is generally less cushion in the racing surface than would be required for a jump race. High-profile Flat jockeys like Frankie Dettori, Kieren Fallon and Hayley Turner have all spent significant lengths of time on the sidelines because of mid-race tumbles.