'Terrible news' - Robert Thornton bemoans loss of jockeys' insurance safety net

Robert Thornton: 'It's a high-risk profession and it's a case of when, not if, you get hurt'Credit: Betbright

Former jump jockey Robert Thornton has lamented the "terrible news" that the safety net of career-ending insurance is to finish at the end of the month.

The Cheltenham Festival-winning rider was a beneficiary of the policy, which paid out up to £100,000 for any jockey who was no longer able to ride due to injury, having been forced to quit the saddle at the age of 37 in 2015 due to the fractured vertebrae he suffered in a fall the previous year.

But the Professional Jockeys Association has been unable to find a replacement for the Stobart Group, which backed the scheme from 2011 until 2019 – and whose logo became a familiar sight on jockeys’ breeches.

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David CarrReporter

Published on 7 November 2020inNews

Last updated 12:40, 7 November 2020

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