Young jockeys are being destroyed by social media abuse - here's how we can help

As the girlfriend of a jockey, I've seen first hand how destructive online abuse directed at riders can be. Death threats, wishing bodily harm or just the odd slagging message can cause a big impact, especially to the vulnerable.

This knowledge led me to investigate the issue for my university dissertation – and the results were even more disturbing than I had anticipated.

Much of what I discovered will not be news to Racing Post readers, who are no doubt aware of the horrendous level of abuse jockeys have to put up with on a daily basis. I found 86 per cent of jockeys had received online abuse; more than half admitted their mental health was affected; and just under half felt their performance was affected, which is inevitable when the mental health of an athlete is linked so conclusively to their performance.