We all know that racing is a high-risk sport. Every time a jockey gets legged up on their horse, they know they have 1/16 chance of having a fall and 18% chance that those falls will result in injury.
When Jacob Pritchard Webb (Jake/Webby) was legged up onto Galant Des Boulats on Tuesday 23rd June, it was just another ride on a day where there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, until the horse fell. This fall has left Jake with several serious breaks, including ribs, his sternum and a number of broken vertebrae. However, one break is far worse than the others. A broken and displaced T4, has left him with a compressed spinal cord resulting in paralysis from the waist down.
Having met Jake at College in 2013, and staying close friends ever since, I’ve been extremely fortunate to follow him during his blossoming racing career, which has now been sadly cut short. My fondest memory of Jake was when he rode Pantoxa to win the Novice Riders at Dingley in 2018, we both had rides in the race and lining up together, we both wanted to make the running! Jake bolted up, and I finished fourth, but I was so proud of him that day and have honestly never been so pleased to be beaten!
Jake’s recovery will be a long journey, but it’s a journey that we would like to help ease the burden of, hence why we have set up this silent auction as an extension from our initial fund raising efforts . Should Jake make a recovery in the long term, any equipment that may no longer be needed will be donated to the Injured Jockeys Fund. Please retweet on Twitter and share on Facebook whether you donate or not.