Grand National winner Treadwell dies aged 34
hjockey triumphed on 100-1 shot Mon Mome in 2009 htributes to ‘lovely guy’ who spoke out about mental health
Trainer Venetia Williams last night led the tributes to Liam Treadwell following the Grand Nationalwinning jockey’s death at the age of 34, describing him as “one of the family”. Treadwell sprang one of the biggest surprises in the race’s history when steering 100-1 shot Mon Mome to victory in 2009 on his first attempt.
Liam Treadwell, the jockey who won the 2009 Grand National on the 100-1 shot Mon Mome, has died. He was 34 years old.
A statement by West Mercia Police yesterday read: “Earlier this morning, police were called out to
an address in Billingsley near Bridgnorth following the death of a man in his thirties. The death is currently being treated as unexplained. However at this stage there is believed to be no third-party involvement.”
In an interview on the 10th anniversary of his greatest victory, Treadwell recalled a sea of blank faces as he pulled up after crossing the line on one of the five horses to have won the race, including Foinavon, after starting at such long odds.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “I think everyone was as shocked at the victory as I was. It was a bit surreal. I started debriefing Venetia [Williams, the trainer) like I’d just won a little race at Plumpton and she said: ‘You’ve just won the Grand National, you don’t have to tell me how it unfolded.’”
His 10 minutes of fame were extended when Clare Balding, who was hosting Aintree for the BBC, referenced his teeth, saying he “could afford to go and get them done now” if he liked.
She had assumed they were the result of falls but it was a condition known as microdontia. The one person who was not bothered by her comments was the jockey but, as a result, a dentist offered him a free set of new teeth. In the same interview, he said: “It must be one of the kindest things she’s ever said – they’re still gleaming.”
However, a fall at Bangor in February 2016, in which he was knocked out for four minutes, left him with headaches, impaired short-term memory and his concentration “all over the shop”. It proved life-changing.
After that he was plagued by mental-health issues, and finding the pressure of racing too much, he quit in February 2018. A year later he was back in the saddle and happier than he had been for a long time. Things really began to pick up last season, when he joined Shropshire-based trainer Alastair Ralph as jockey/assistant. The trainer was starting to go places and Treadwell was not only back among the winners, but was given Ralph’s point-to-pointers to train.
He was very open about his mental-health issues and contributed to the Professional Jockeys Association Jockey Matters films on the subject. Of the progress made by racing, he said: “It has come a long way with its understanding of mental health, but it still has some way to go. Jockeys have this image of being indestructible. You fall, you get back as soon as you can, you’re fine, you stick your chest out.
“I love my cricket. Cricketers see sports psychologists the whole time, but if you told some trainers you wouldn’t be in to ride out because you were seeing a psychologist, they’d ask, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ ”
Williams, the trainer of Mon Mome, described Treadwell as one of the family. “He was a lovely guy and rode umpteen winners for us,” she said. “It was Liam’s first ride in the National and the plan was to take the brave man’s route down the inside and he did it to the letter.”
In February, Treadwell was a pall-bearer at the funeral of his former weighingroom colleague James Banks, who had taken his own life.