Jockey, 24, in hospital after horror fall saw air ambulance called to racecourse

An air ambulance was called to Worcester Racecourse after it was feared a young jockey had been seriously hurt in a fall. Oliver Boyden was riding Dreamweaver in a novices' limited handicap hurdle on Thursday afternoon when the horse came down in the home straight.

Reappearing after a mammoth 1,045-day absence, the gelding was a long way behind eventual winner Sixty Plus at the time. The motion of the fall gave Boyden no chance to stay in the saddle and he landed heavily, as medics rushed to the scene.

Racecourse chiefs delayed the final race while the rider, competing for local trainers Dr Richard Newland and Jamie Insole, was assisted. An air ambulance was called but conditional jockey Boyden, 24, was taken by road to be assessed in hospital, where he remained overnight.

His agent Ian Popham told Mirror Racing: "It was a very nasty fall. I spoke to his mother this morning and thankfully they think he is going to be OK.

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"He was knocked out and is concussed but the scans have shown there are no broken bones. He's just waiting for the doctors to see him again and hopefully it won't be too long before he is going home."

Boyden has ridden three winners from 29 rides under rules, with one coming for Dreamweaver's stable aboard The Dream Goes On in a hurdle at Hereford four months ago.

The other two were for trainer Olly Murphy on Wolfspear, a horse running the colours of the yard's racing club. In May 2022, stablemate Friary Land opened Boyden's account in point-to-points at Dingley, when he was classed as an amateur jockey.

The final race at Worcester, scheduled for 5.17pm, went off at 5.29pm - around 45 minutes after the incident happened. The stewards held an enquiry to establish why the air ambulance took off as the horses were at the start and a report was forwarded to the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We were called to an incident at Worcester Racecourse at 4.49pm yesterday, one ambulance, a paramedic officer, a BASICS doctor from the Mercia Accident Rescue Service and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford attended the scene.

"On arrival we discovered one patient, a man. He was treated for potentially serious injuries before being taken to hospital by land ambulance."