Weighing room rallies around stricken colleague Josh Moore

Members of the weighing room have rallied around Josh Moore and his family after the jockey was moved to critical care on Wednesday.

Moore had successful surgery on a broken femur after falling from Gleno in the veterans' chase at Haydock on Saturday, when he also sustained broken ribs, a punctured lung and damage to his back.

However, the treatment of his injuries has been delayed by a chest infection, and the most recent update from the Injured Jockeys Fund on Wednesday revealed the 30-year-old was moved to critical care at Aintree University Hospital and remained sedated on a ventilator.

"Josh would be one of my best friends and I feel absolutely awful about what's happening to him," said his friend and fellow jockey Tom Cannon. "I felt sick watching the fall and I just feel awful for his family having to go through this now – they're such great people.

"Everyone's thinking of them and the whole family, sending our prayers and hoping he's going to be okay.

"Josh is a really nice guy, he makes time for anyone and he doesn’t have any side to him – what you see is what you get.

"I've been racing with him for ten years and there's never been a bad word between us. He works hard at home and he's a very good rider, anyone will tell you. He's as tough as they come but has had so little luck with injuries."

Sam Twiston-Davies: 'Everybody is praying and keeping their fingers crossed for Josh'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Those sentiments were echoed by jockey Sam Twiston-Davies, who added: "The weighing room is a tight-knit place and Josh is a key member. Everybody is praying and keeping their fingers crossed.

"He's a fantastic jockey and an amazingly good guy as well. He's one of the kindest people I know. He'd give anybody the time of day, no matter the topic of conversation, even if he's in a rush to get home. We're wishing him well and our thoughts are with his entire family."

Moore enjoyed a career-best return of 40 winners during the 2020-21 season, but he has struggled with injuries this campaign, and the jockey required spinal surgery after a fall at Plumpton in October.