Jockeys send support to Graham Lee with rider in intensive care following fall at Newcastle on Friday evening

Dale Gibson, interim chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), was at Newcastle on Saturday to support a weighing room rocked by the terrible incident at the same track on Friday evening which resulted in the hugely popular and successful jockey Graham Lee being placed in intensive care after suffering a neck injury.

Lee, a leading rider over jumps and then on the Flat, was taken by ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle after he was unseated from his mount Ben Macdui as the stalls opened for a sprint handicap.

Newcastle, a course where Lee won the Eider Chase over jumps and Northumberland Plate on the Flat, was united in sombre reflection on Armistice day with thoughts of the 47-year-old at the forefront of every mind.

Gibson said: "Any time a jockey gets injured, there's always a real sense of community and group feeling and that's very much the case now. Graham is hugely popular and what he's achieved in the sport is incredible.

"The PJA and the weighing room very much want to send our best wishes to Graham and his family."

Gibson added: "We are all keeping our fingers crossed. It's not easy for jockeys going out and riding today, especially those who were here last night, and that's one of the reasons why I'm here, to offer support. Having ridden for 24 years, I know what it's like; they're a very close-knit community."

Jockeys and staff respect the two-minute silence at Newcastle on Armistice dayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

A statement released on Saturday morning by the Injured Jockeys Fund highlighted the severity of Lee's injuries. It read: "Graham Lee had a fall coming out of the stalls at Newcastle racecourse yesterday evening. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where he is in intensive care with a neck injury. He will undergo further tests today to assess the extent of the injury."

Lee partnered more than 1,000 winners over jumps, including Amberleigh House in the 2004 Grand National for Ginger McCain, and switched to riding on the Flat in 2012.

Over jumps, the Galway-born North Yorkshire-based rider struck up a memorable partnership with the Graham Wylie-owned stayer Inglis Drever and the pair landed the 2005 World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, while he also won Grade 1s with Another Promise and Kalahari King from his time with Ferdy Murphy.

Lee has ridden numerous winners for Jim Goldie, who said: "He was just a teenager when he first rode for me. He won on Jack Dexter for me and I think it was nearly his first ride at Goodwood when he won the Stewards' Cup on Hawkeyethenoo. Richard Hughes tried to jock him off and so did Kieren Fallon, but we had a gentleman's agreement that he would ride 100 per cent of the horses and he went from rookie to the third best in the country and cock of the north. It was amazing. And he was the best jump jockey I used – he'd give everything a ride."

Goldie fully understands the effect Lee's accident will have on his family, and the trainer said: "I've been there. My dad fractured his skull when I was 14. I know what it's like. It's hellish. But we need to be hopeful and the one thing is that racing will look after him, thanks to Lord Oaksey and Jack Berry and the IJF [Injured Jockeys Fund]."

Since turning his attention to the Flat, Lee has won two of the sport's most coveted prizes, partnering Trip To Paris to success in the 2015 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and riding Alpha Delphini to victory by a nose in a thrilling finish to the 2018 Nunthorpe.

His 598 rides this season have yielded 47 winners, 15 of which have come for Ben Macdui's trainer Paul Midgley.