The Professional Jockeys’ Association has been heavily criticised recently following accusations of neglect. Mark Coumbe, an apprentice rider, broke his back after a horrendous fall at Kempton on the 30th of July. The 25 year old jockey was treated for over an hour by ten paramedics after a shocking five-horse pile-up which fatally wounded his mount, Towy Girl.

Last week, he spoke of his shock and disappointment at how the PJA have treated him since this incident. According to Coumbe, nobody from the PJA has contacted him since the day after his fall. The young jockey had to spend two weeks in hospital before being allowed home in a body brace and was lucky not to have been paralysed for life.

The PJA have arranged for Coumbe to see a consultant in order to assess when the body brace can be removed but the impression remains that this is too little, too late. Coumbe has expressed his sadness at the situation, saying that he was "shocked and disappointed" by the fact that the PJA had not got in touch to see how he was. Knowing that they cared would have been particularly welcome when he was flat on his back in hospital "unable to move or eat”.

The chief executive of the PJA, Josh Apiafi, has responded by saying that they “were in touch with Mark on the day after the incident and arranged for his car to be taken home”. However, this is unlikely to have provided much consolation for a jockey whose life and career was hanging in the balance.

Coumbe’s accusations bring to mind those made by Seb Sanders following his horrific injury at Chester earlier this year. The champion jockey was thrown from Luca Cumani’s Speed Gifted after Sir Duke clipped the horse’s heels. He suffered a badly broken leg and later complained about the neglectful standard of care he received from the PJA. Apiafi admitted that the PJA had not been “up to scratch” with regards to Sanders but obviously the association did not learn from their mistake.

Written by Charlotte Cook