Williams, Christian

November 19, 2011

Born on November 26, 1982, tungsten-tough jump jockey Christian Williams is closing in on a second improbable comeback against impossible odds. 

Williams has set his heart on riding again next month, just over a year after was he was speared into the ground like a javelin in an X-certificate fall at Cheltenham that almost ended his career.

Gym'll fix it: Jockey Christian Williams is fighting fit and ready to resume a career blighted by horrific falls

There was no sign of the agony of the past year as he worked on his fitness in a gym near his home at Bridgend on Friday morning. 

Just a defiant gleam as he talked of the lost months and a burning desire to give himself one final chance in the saddle. 

He has not seen a replay of the incident which left him with two broken arms and a shortcut to alternative employment.

'It was amazing because my horse, Beshabar, jumped the fence well and was then brought down by a faller, so it was just a bit of bad luck, really,' he said.

'I hit the ground at speed, looked over to my left and saw some of my bones sticking out. My arm was badly bent, a bit like a hosepipe with a kink in it. 

Cheltenham horror: Williams has suffered some heavy falls but keeps bouncing back

'If it had happened at home, I would have been in serious trouble. But luckily a doctor was there straight away and they told me they had lost the pulse in my left hand. The blood had stopped flowing. As they were worried that I might lose my hand if they couldn't get the pulse back, I was given an anaesthetic so that they could straighten the arm.'

The injury required seven operations and may need one more to ease discomfort. 

His partner, Charlotte Smith, a physio, recalls that in the early stages of his recovery, inflammation caused his left arm to swell up to 10 times its normal size.

She said: 'Christian looked like Popeye with all the bandages wrapped around it.' 

Yet at no stage did he consider turning his back on racing.

'I was always going to ride again,' he said. 'No question. It was just a matter of time. Jockeys get used to the pain. Even when you're heading to hospital you don't think about the possibility of not riding again.

'In this game, you can be forgotten very quickly and end up back at square one. But what happened has not put me off one bit.'

In his spare time Williams has been training to become a mortgage adviser. 

But that is for the future. 

He has been riding out for several trainers and hopes to be racing again next month. 

Yet Williams knows how close he came to the brink after travelling a similar journey before.

In 2006 he was one of the most successful jump jockeys around. 

He had 72 winners the previous season, was a key member of Paul Nicholls's team and had finished second in the previous year's Grand National on Royal Auclair. 

Then the sky fell in at Worcester as a horse called The Spacer fired him into the ground. 

He was badly smashed up and needed three lengthy shoulder operations. For six months he could not be sure if he would ride again.

'I knew deep down I might have to face life without riding, that it might all be over. I couldn't be sure,' he said. 

But he defied medical opinion then and is ready to do it again.

'It'll be hard but I'll be giving it a go,' he vowed.

'It's all I've been thinking about.'

He was badly injured again on 9 September 2008 when coming off a raw novice dived through the wing of the last fence at Warwick. It was only when he tried to put his foot in the stirrup of Big Buck's that he realised that his leg was actually broken from three fractures of the tibia.

May 2013

Despite Christian suffering more than his fair share of serious injuries, his dreams of rebuilding his race riding career to the days of 2006, when he rode over 70 winners, have not diminished.

Christian always wants to be the best at whatever he does and currently this includes being a BHA accredited Jockey Coach, alongside his race riding. Christian completed the intensive training programme last year and now has 12 students under his wing individually and is also working closely with the Northern Racing College.

“I want to be the best coach out there, he says. “When I’m coaching the guys and girls, I am fully focussed on them and leave no stone unturned. I like to pick up tips and advice from other jockeys and coaches in other sport , like the Welsh rugby teams, because being well prepared is crucial. I take pride in the paperwork side of it all and feel it is so important to write full reports so all the students can measure their progress.”

Not content with coaching and race riding filling in his time, Christian has also been doing hospitality work, fronting the Equiciser as a promotion for the sport, at courses including most recently, Sandown Park.