Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens retires for third and final time

After a couple of false sunsets, legendary US jockey Gary Stevens has been forced to retire for what seems certain to be the final time on doctor's advice following a fall at Del Mar on Saturday.

Stevens, 55, was injured in the preliminaries of one race and, while he took up another ride on that card, he did not ride on Sunday and it was later confirmed that he had suffered spinal damage.

"I had an MRI on Monday and the C-4 is up against the spinal cord," he told Daily Racing Form. "He [the doctor] didn't mince any words. He said, 'You're done.' There won't be any comeback from this one."

He added: "I was getting close [to retirement] anyway. Now it will be time to pursue other things, but thank God I'm not in a wheelchair.

Gary Stevens: rode at the Shergar Cup in 2013Credit: Alan Crowhurst

"I don't know if this was something that was brewing, but my arm went numb and I've got tingling now in both hands, and the base of my skull feels like a coffee pot got put on it."

Stevens won the Kentucky Derby three times among more than 5,100 career victories, and celebrated Graded success for what would be the last time aboard Sharp Samurai in the City Of Hope Mile Stakes at Santa Anita last month.

He enjoyed high-profile success in Britain, winning the Nassau Stakes aboard Zahrat Dubai, Juddmonte International on Royal Anthem and the Great Voltigeur on Fantastic Light in 1999, and five years later teamed up with Tim Easterby to land the Prix Maurice de Gheest with Somnus.

Stevens earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 1998, during which he landed the Dubai World Cup aboard Silver Charm, and a year later was voted into US Racing's Hall of Fame.

Nicknamed The Bionic Man for his multiple joint replacements, Stevens rode 11 winners at the Breeders' Cup, including four Distaffs – most recently on Beholder in 2016 – and the 2013 Classic on Mucho Macho Man.

He had retired twice before, first in 1999 and then in 2005. The second of those lasted nearly eight years, in which time he tried his hand as a trainer and a pundit. He also starred in the 2003 film Seabiscuit as George Woolf.

Stevens won the Preakness Stakes on Oxbow, securing one of the sport's great comeback stories in 2013, the same year he participated in the Shergar Cup at Ascot.

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