A TOP jockey who won £9million by the age of 24 has announced he is taking an indefinite break from racing – as doesn’t know if he will ever be back.
Ethan Brown had the world at his feet as a young rider coming through in Australia.
Brown was left fighting for his life after a horrific fall left him with catastrophic injuries
With 408 career wins – three of them at Group 1 level – he was a rising star of the weighing room getting a load of big rides.
But his world came crashing down after a life-threatening fall at Flemington racecourse last March.
Rushed to hospital, doctors had to operate on Brown three times in a week to stop the internal bleeding as a result of a lacerated liver and other injuries.
Brown said the surgeons ‘pretty much saved me’ as he lay in a coma, his life in the balance.
Incredibly, he made a full comeback and was back racing in September – but not all was as it seemed.
Brown has not been seen race-riding since his short-lived return.
He took to social media recently to explain his absence – and why he may never come back.
The brave jockey said: “I thought I was ready to make my comeback to race riding after what was a life-changing fall in March.
“I worked extremely hard behind the scenes to get back in the saddle.
“However, I underestimated how much self confidence, self belief, dedication and determination it would take to get me back to race riding at the level I was at before the fall.
“I want to reach out and say thank you for all the support I’ve received, especially over the last few weeks. It’s greatly appreciated.
“I’m going to take a bit more time to get myself back to being the best I can be.
“You’ll still find me riding a bit of trackwork here and there and cheering my mates home over the Spring Carnival.”
Brown told Racenet that he could only remember part of his fall, but did watch it back in horror.
Two jockeys, Mark Zahra – who was recently fined £26,000 for a separate offence – and Blake Shinn were given big bans for careless riding during the incident.
Brown’s girlfriend Celine Gaudray has been by his side during his rehab.
She has continued to race despite seeing the catastrophic injuries loved ones can endure in the sport.
The pair will travel to New Zealand this weekend for her mount in a big Group 2.
Brown will go along for the ride but will be watching from the sidelines.
Something he is more than happy to do these days.
Brown shares the scars a result of the surgery he needed to save his life
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