Dublin born jockey Cathy Gannon – the inaugural winner of the Irish Times/Sports Council of Ireland Sportswoman of the Year award in 2004 – has had to retire from the saddle.
The 35-year-old former Irish champion apprentice has been sidelined since seriously injurying her foot in a starting stalls incident at Lingfield in May of last year.
Gannon has taken advice from medical experts and called time on a successful career that saw her ride 440 winners in total.
“I’ve had a second opinion and they said it [the foot
“It was a ‘Lisfranc’ injury and eight out of 10 footballers wouldn’t get back from it. I had multiple fractures in my toes and I didn’t actually think it was as serious as it was when it happened. As time went on and I tried to make progress it wasn’t happening,” she confirmed.
A graduate of the RACE academy in Kildare, Gannon was crowned champion apprentice in 2004 when working for John Oxx. She was the first woman in either Ireland or Britain to win an apprentice title. She moved to Britain two years later.
It was back at the Curragh, however, that she secured her sole Group success, aboard the David Evans-trained Dingle View in the 2010 Round Tower Stakes. Gannon plans to return to Ireland in October.
“It was a great rollercoaster and I had a great time. But obviously I’ve got a family now and I have to listen to the specialist and move forward,” she said.
Gannon added she hopes to get involved in jockey-coaching and aims to continue riding out.
“The specialist said I could ride out a little and I’m getting a proper boot I can use. When you’re riding out you’re not on the foot all the time. So I’ll probably ride out in the mornings and do some jockey coaching in the evenings,” she reported.
In other news Highland Reel is a 6-4 favourite to become just the third horse to complete back-to-back victories in this Saturday’s King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
Swain (1997-98) and Dahlia (1973-74) are the only two horses to manage the feat before. Highland Reel goes into the race on the back of Group One victories in both the Coronation Cup and Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
Aidan O’Brien has indicated Highland Reel’s brother Idaho could also line up on Saturday over the course and distance he won the Hardwicke last month.
O'Brien has won the King George four times before and another will see him equal the race record held by Dick Hern, Sir Michael Stoute and Saeed bin Suroor.
