Fit-again Willy quits

WILLY TWISTON-DAVIES has made the difficult decision to call time on his riding career despite recovering from injury.

The 23-year-old jockey has been out of action since breaking two vertebrae and two ribs in a fall from Foxtail Hill, trained by his father Nigel, on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.

The doctor has cleared Twiston-Davies for a return to the saddle but the popular rider has decided to focus on an immediate career in the bloodstock world before eventually following in the training footsteps of his Grand National and Gold Cup-winning father Nigel.

Twiston-Davies said: “In some ways it was a tough decision to make and obviously I will miss it a lot, but at the same time I can see myself training one day, perhaps when dad calls it a day, and I’m also keen to concentrate on the bloodstock side of things.

“Now I’ve made this decision and it’s out there, hopefully it might open a few more oppportunities.”

Despite a relatively short riding career, Twiston-Davies enjoyed major success under both codes.

The highlight of nearly 200 on the Flat was victory aboard the Alan King-trained Primitivo in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot in 2016, while he won a Grade Two novice chase for his father earlier this year.

He burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old amateur when winning the Fox Hunters’ Chase over the Grand National fences at Aintree on Baby Run in 2011.