Just before Christmas 2021, Freddy Tylicki emerged from the London High Court with the most bittersweet success of his life.
The Irish jockey had won his £6 million claim for negligent riding against compatriot Graham Gibbons following a catastrophic fall during a race at Kempton five years earlier that left Tylicki in a wheelchair.
Gibbons was found liable for an incident in which he was found to have manoeuverd his mount, Madame Butterfly, into the path of the horse Tylicki was riding as the runners turned out of the back straight. The result was that Tylicki’s mount, Nellie Deen, ran out of room, clipped heels, and fell, leaving her rider with life-changing injuries.
A stewards’ inquiry was held into the incident and concluded it was accidental. No further action was taken. Immediate reaction by many observers was to agree with the finding. Everyone’s heart went out to Tylicki, but an attitude prevailed of it being one-of-those-things, a dreadful consequence of the cut and thrust reality of race-riding.
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The court verdict was very different. The judge ruled that Gibbons had ridden with reckless disregard. After the first successful claim against another jockey for a race incident, Tylicki commented: “Today’s result has finally provided me with closure, and I look forward to putting this all behind me and moving on with my life.
“I hope though, that this judgement acts as a reminder that competing in a dangerous sport like horse racing is no justification for competing with a reckless disregard for the safety of your fellow competitors.”
Amidst the jumble of emotions, as relief for Tylicki that his financial future was secured mixed with some sympathy for Gibbons, plus a dash of unease at how the matter had reached court at all, there was recognition of the goalposts shifting. Dismissing such an incident as one-of-those-things wasn’t a runner anymore.
Just how much of the original six million claim got paid out remained a private matter. But it was paid by Gibbons’ insurers. Jockeys based in Britain are indemnified for personal liability as part of their insurance cover. It meant the financial implications were largely corporate rather than entering the realm of personal monetary ruin.
The significance of that was clear to everyone involved in the Tylicki case. But its stark implications were immediately obvious in Ireland too. The game-changer decision might have come in a different jurisdiction, but it starkly underlined how riders here had no such indemnity cover.
Even before the Tylicki decision, Ruby Walsh predicted every rider here would have to get cover if he was successful. His views were backed up by the Irish Jockeys Association who warned of the fundamental threat involved to racing generally from such a scenario. That was over 2½ years ago. No such indemnity scheme is in place here yet.
Initial IJA attempts to secure cover in Ireland proved fruitless. They couldn’t even get a quote. Attempts to find it abroad also failed. Cost is an inevitable factor, something that prompted the jockeys’ body to approach Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, framing the potential for a similar case here in wider industry terms since apart from horses there’s nothing more fundamental to the sport than riders.
“It would be naïve of not just the riders but other industry participants such as IHRB and HRI to think it won’t happen. And when it does happen, we do not have insurance in place for this.
“We are looking at a rider to rider claim which could be very significant and from that point of view we have to be proactive about this. It’s not something we can just leave sitting there and say let’s hope it never happens here. Because as sure as night follows day it will,” the IJA secretary Andrew Coonan warned. That was two years ago.
There remains a glaring gap. Race-riding, by definition, is a dangerous business. Accidents are inevitable when the nature of the activity involves partnering highly powerful and unpredictable animals in close-proximity at high-speeds and with a split-second competitive imperative underlying everything.
Race-riding involves maximising your own chance while trying to diminish the opposition’s. Accidentally on purpose crossing rivals or boxing them in occurs in practically every race every day of the week. It’s a culture given a nod and a wink by a regulatory environment where if jockeys opt not to take such chances their employers feel entitled to demand why not.
Neither is it just in terms of the potential for one jockey to sue another. It’s hardly a massive leap of the imagination to conjure a scenario where a manoeuver that results in serious injury to a valuable horse can be construed by an owner as grounds for legal action, leaving riders wide open to massive financial risk.
Despite that, it appears political will from HRI and the IHRB to tackle the problem is in short supply. Rightly or wrongly, it looks like a dull, complicated, yet vital problem is being kicked down the road. But the risk of it blowing up in the industry’s face is there before every race. Simply wishing it were otherwise is a cop out. Desperately unfortunate precedence underlines that.
Something for the Weekend
Willie Mullins has Saturday’s Irish Oaks in his sights with Lope De Lilas but 35 minutes later he also has VAUBAN (4.15) for the Curragh Cup. A 30-day gap should be enough to recover from a grueling Ascot Gold Cup where he ran a stormer until his stamina patently ran out. Tower Of London is a worthy opponent but this shapes as an ideal scenario of Vauban.
Last year’s winner COMMANCHE FALLS (3.00) got no frantic early pace to run at on his last start but given such a set up in Saturday’s Hackwood Stakes at Newbury, and easy ground, he can upset the likely favourite, Regional.
