The Flat jockey Graham Lee is in intensive care after suffering a neck injury in a fall at Newcastle on Friday evening. The 47-year-old was taken to hospital after being unseated from his mount Ben Macdui as the stalls opened for a five-furlong handicap race on the all-weather track.
A statement from the Injured Jockeys Fund read: “Graham was taken by ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where he is in intensive care with a neck injury. He will undergo further tests today to assess the extent of the injury.”
Lee, from Galway, has ridden under both codes during his lengthy career, riding Amberleigh House to the 2004 Grand National for Ginger McCain. The rider also enjoyed a successful partnership with staying hurdler Inglis Drever, counting the 2005 World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival among their seven victories together, while the Ferdy Murphy-trained pair of Another Promise and Kalahari King were also Grade One scorers.
After repeated injury problems in jump racing, Lee switched his attentions to the Flat in 2012, striking Group One gold with Trip To Paris in the 2015 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and Alpha Delphini in the 2018 Nunthorpe Stakes. He had his best season on the Flat in 2014 when he rode 159 winners and has 47 victories on the board this campaign.
Milton Harris has had his training licence suspended by the British Horseracing Authority pending a hearing in January. The interim suspension comes after horses trained by the Warminster handler were not permitted to run at Ludlow on Thursday, with the BHA ruling Balboa and Giddyupadingdong were “not qualified” for their respective engagements.