George Chaloner 

Flat jockey George Chaloner hails from a well-known racing family. In the 19th century his great-great-grandfather Tom Chaloner was a successful rider on the Flat, winning all the Classics bar the 1,000 Guineas and landing the St Leger five times. His grandfather was a twin and the two brothers were based in Malton, and both rode over jumps.

After leaving school at 16 and completing a course at the Northern Racing School, George, too, headed to Malton, joining trainer Malcolm Jefferson before transferring to Richard Fahey.

His seven-year career in the saddle was one of highs and lows. The highs came during the month of June 2014 when, riding for his boss Richard Fahey, he partnered Baccarat to win the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and the following Saturday won the Northumberland Plate on Dr Marwan Koukash’s Angel Gabrial. That put him firmly on the racing map. In 2015 he won a valuable handicap at Goodwood on another Koukash-owned horse, Rene Mathis, and also rode out his claim.

But then it all went wrong. His run of bad luck began later in 2015 when he broke his foot in a fall on the gallops riding out for Richard Whitaker. He worked hard to come back in 2016 and rode 18 winners from 263 rides, but disaster struck again for him one November Friday night at Wolverhampton, suffering serious injuries that necessitated 27 screws in various parts of his body.

He spent three months working his way back to full fitness only to suffer another bad fall on his first ride back in February 2017, in which he broke his foot and his T8 vertebrae and was millimetres away from being paralysed. Scans also revealed previous injuries to his back which had not been diagnosed following the Wolverhampton fall. He spent two weeks in hospital and was then diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and vowed he would never ride a horse again.

Aged 25, he began to lay the foundations for a second career in racing. He had spells shadowing the starters and stipendiary stewards on race days at various courses in the north, spent time on non-race days with the groundsman and with assistant clerk of the course Anthea Morshead at York, and worked on the Knavesmire conducting tours that took racegoers to the start during the Ebor meeting.

In January 2018 he joined Pontefract as part of its management team, being primarily involved in the promotion and marketing side while also training as a clerk of the course.