Thomas Brown

Thomas Brown

Thomas Brown went into racing aged 16 and served his apprenticeship with Andrew Balding at Kingsclere. During his seven-year career as a jockey he rode 123 winners, with his biggest success coming in the John Smith’s Cup at York in 2016 aboard 18-1 chance Educate for trainer Ismail Mohammed.

Alongside his John Smith’s Cup victory, highlights included riding a winner for Sir Alex Ferguson and achieving a third place finish in the royal silks for the Queen when still an apprentice.

Having ridden out his claim he rode for trainer Ed Walker. In 2017 he partnered Walker’s Captain Colby in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot. Walker also supplied what proved to be Thomas’s final winner, Di Alto, in a class 4 fillies’ handicap at Windsor on 24 July 2017.

He rode for the last time when finishing third on Dream Farr, also trained by Ed Walker, in a six-furlong handicap at Lingfield Park on 12 August 2017. He was subsequently forced to give up his jockey’s licence after sustaining a serious knee injury in a riding-out accident. 

During his rehabilitation, he looked for a career which involved meeting new people every day and provided a similar adrenaline rush that had been such a part of his career as a jockey. It was difficult because all his friends and everyone he knew, he’d built up through racing.

He applied to become an emergency care assistant in the Bury St Edmunds area, then joined the East of England Ambulance Service Trust in March 2023. With the help of JETS (Jockeys Education & Training Scheme) he undertook a comprehensive six-week training course to become a fully qualified paramedic.

At the JETS ‘Richard Davis Awards’ in November 2025 Thomas won the Jockey Club Achievement Award and prize-money of £3,000 for his successful transition to a new career as an ambulance worker. The awards, annually in memory of the late Richard Davis, who suffered a fatal race fall in 1996, are intended to recognise riders who have made significant advances in new careers or in development of additional skills. The entries are judged according to the initiative, forethought, effort and determination put into their career development.

Of his new job, Thomas said: “I love it, I really feel I’m made for it. You’ll see things that you’ve never seen before, and you have to rely on your training and your colleagues. You get only a small amount of information before you turn up, so you’re always adapting, always thinking on your feet.

“I had some great days as a jockey, but it feels like I have found my second calling. It’s a good feeling when you see the relief on a patient’s face when you arrive on scene and it’s even better when you make them more comfortable.

“It’s ironic, after I spent all those years as a jockey trying to stay out of ambulances.”