British champion jockey Crowley escapes pile-up with broken nose

Newly-crowned British champion flat jockey Jim Crowley suffered nothing worse than a broken nose his agent said Tuesday after the rider was involved in a horrific four horse pile-up. Crowley was released from hospital late Monday following an accident involving four riders during a race at Kempton Park, southwest of London earlier in the day. But fellow rider Frederik Tylicki was in a "stable" condition in intensive care. Tylicki's mount Nellie Deen had been leading when they came to grief, resulting in Crowley being brought down on Electrify, with jockeys Steve Drowne and Ted Durcan also unseated from their mounts. Crowley and Tylicki were taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, with the latter airlifted amid concerns that both jockeys had suffered spinal injuries. But Crowley's agent, Tony Hind said the champion had avoided major damage. "Jim had a scan -- no broken bones, all clear. All he has done is broken his nose," said Hind. "It's a massive relief. "He feels like he's had six rounds in the ring with (boxer) Anthony Joshua at the moment." Durcan said he had suffered a broken ankle after he took himself to Cambridge's Addenbrookes Hospital in eastern England. "I fractured by right ankle, but it could have been a lot worse," Durcan said. "I don't know how long I'll be out, but it's not the end of the world and I just hope Freddy is okay." Frankie Dettori, arguably British racing's best-known current jockey, tweeted his concern from Australia where the Italian was riding in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup. "Sending my best wishes and speedy recovery to Freddy and Jim," he wrote. - 'One goes, a few go' - While accidents involving several horses are far from unheard of in jumps racing, it is rare for similar incidents to take place on the flat. But Drowne, back in action at the Wolverhampton course in the West Midlands on Tuesday, said the confines of the all-wehether course on which Monday's incident took place posed their own dangers. "Basically, Freddy's horse clipped heels," Drowne told the At the Races television channel. "It happens a few times in a race and he was unlucky he didn't find a leg and went down. "On the all-weather (track) it's tight so when one goes down a few go down. "Unfortunately he was at the front of the pack and a few horses went over him. "Freddy never moved from the fall and Jim was in a bit of pain and was worried about his neck. Lucky enough, me and Ted were walking wounded. "The doctors were quite concerned when they got to Freddy and called for the air ambulance really quick and did everything right. They were on to us straight away." After the accident, the rest of Monday's racing at Kempton was abandoned. "The lads knew it was bad," added Drowne. "It was very quiet in the jockeys' room, very subdued. I'd left by the time they'd called off the rest of the meeting. It didn't surprise me. "It was certainly the worst atmosphere I'd been in. The lads suspected Freddy was badly hurt." Crowley and Tylicki have both enjoyed successful seasons. Crowley rode an English record 46 winners in a month in September -- surpassing the previous best of 45 shared by legendary jockeys Fred Archer and Gordon Richards -- to ensure he won the title. Tylicki finally broke his Group One duck this season and followed it up on the same horse Speedy Boarding in another Group One, France's Prix de l'Opera on Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe day.