Ryan Hatch
'The whole of the sport has been brilliant to me and it’s a shame things have had to end this way'
'The whole of the sport has been brilliant to me and it’s a shame things have had to end this way'
Jump jockey Ryan Hatch was forced to retire through injury following a horrific fall at Cheltenham in December 2016.
Jump jockey Ryan Hatch was forced to retire through injury following a horrific fall at Cheltenham in December 2016.
Ryan rode 78 winners over jumps, first as an amateur and then as a conditional. Of that total, 66 were for Nigel Twiston-Davies, with whom he was based throughout his career. Twiston-Davies also provided him with his two Cheltenham Festival wins, the first of which came on Same Difference in the 2013 Fulke Kim Muir Challenge Trophy. He also won the 2014 Betfair Hurdle for Twiston-Davies on Splash Of Ginge.
Ryan rode 78 winners over jumps, first as an amateur and then as a conditional. Of that total, 66 were for Nigel Twiston-Davies, with whom he was based throughout his career. Twiston-Davies also provided him with his two Cheltenham Festival wins, the first of which came on Same Difference in the 2013 Fulke Kim Muir Challenge Trophy. He also won the 2014 Betfair Hurdle for Twiston-Davies on Splash Of Ginge.
Having turned conditional, he enjoyed his best season in 2015-16 with 22 winners, most notably the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on Blacklion. He also rode Blacklion to victory in the Towton Novices’ Chase at Wetherby, while his other big wins that season included the Imperial Cup on Flying Angel and the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle on Ballyoptic at the Grand National meeting.
Having turned conditional, he enjoyed his best season in 2015-16 with 22 winners, most notably the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on Blacklion. He also rode Blacklion to victory in the Towton Novices’ Chase at Wetherby, while his other big wins that season included the Imperial Cup on Flying Angel and the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle on Ballyoptic at the Grand National meeting.
He looked destined to reach even greater heights but his career came crashing to an end in the Unicoin Group Handicap Chase at Cheltenham on December 9, 2016, when Cogry – whose alphabet form figures on his last three starts read F, BD, UR – took a crashing fall, in which Ryan fractured the C6 and C7 vertebrae at the base of his neck, the T6 vertebrae below his shoulder blade, and his sternum.
He looked destined to reach even greater heights but his career came crashing to an end in the Unicoin Group Handicap Chase at Cheltenham on December 9, 2016, when Cogry – whose alphabet form figures on his last three starts read F, BD, UR – took a crashing fall, in which Ryan fractured the C6 and C7 vertebrae at the base of his neck, the T6 vertebrae below his shoulder blade, and his sternum.
Following a lengthy stay in hospital he slowly but surely recovered from his injuries. The bones healed well but the damage to his spinal cord put him at great risk of paralysis in the event of another fall. He was obliged to accept medical advice and, aged 24, reluctantly had to stop riding.
Following a lengthy stay in hospital he slowly but surely recovered from his injuries. The bones healed well but the damage to his spinal cord put him at great risk of paralysis in the event of another fall. He was obliged to accept medical advice and, aged 24, reluctantly had to stop riding.