How the IJF brought me to Jonathan Haynes - and allowed him to keep horses at the heart of his life

Some jockeys who donned black armbands at Carlisle’s Easter Saturday meeting when news came through that Jonathan Haynes had died would have known him personally. The rest will have taken the initiative out of ignorant respect for the local permit-holder. Everyone associated with the sport should take a moment to acknowledge Haynes as the ultimate beneficiary of the Injured Jockeys Fund, which is 60 years old this year.

My first contact with Haynes came via another Midlands-based jump jockey, Jimmy Harris, who broke his back, aged 36, at Huntingdon on October 23, 1971.

Harris was transferred to the specialist spinal unit at Lodge Moor hospital in Sheffield, and although I had recently joined the Daily Telegraph, I was still commuting from Doncaster and Brough Scott, even then heavily involved with the IJF, asked me to visit him when possible. I did so for the 22 weeks he spent recuperating, two months less than anticipated, before he was well enough to move into Melton Mowbray stables specially converted with help from the IJF. From there his career included guiding two early wins out of Burrough Hill Lad and a seasonal record-equalling nine handicaps from Vindaloo.