3 minute read

Jump jockey Aidan Coleman has announced his retirement from the saddle, having struggled to get back to fitness after suffering a shattered tibia in June 2023.

During an interview on Racing TV's Luck on Sunday programme, he said: "The prognosis early was quite bleak about returning to ride. Around September I was kidding myself that I could get back from this, then around Christmas I had another operation and the progress has really plateaued.

"I can do the gym, but I can't run or jump. I can't ride a horse really. A lot of people would say I couldn't anyway so what's the difference but every time I've tried to ride a horse since Christmas it's not gone well. I just can't really do it or ride in a race or anything. Speaking to Jerry Hill [the BHA's Chief Medical Adviser] and my surgeon, my chances of improving are negative now so that's it. I won't stand the demands of being a jockey or get anywhere near it."

With 1,251 winners in Britain and Ireland to his name, Coleman is best known for his association with staying hurdler Paisley Park. The gelding gave Coleman his first Grade 1 success when taking the 2018 Long Walk Hurdle and the pair enjoyed further top  level victories in the subsequent five seasons, including the 2019 Stayers' Hurdle.

Coleman won the 2021 Champion Chase with Henry de Bromhead's Put The Kettle On  and achieved multiple Grade 1 victories in the green and gold silks of JP McManus - notably aboard Jonbon and Epatante.