Tag Archive for: Martin Dwyer

Knee injury forces Dwyer to call time on riding career

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Derby-winning jockey Martin Dwyer has announced his retirement from the saddle having failed to recover from a serious knee injury.

Dwyer has been on the sidelines since March 2022 due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

The Liverpudlian has undergone several surgeries on his knee but they have failed to offer enough improvement to enable him to return to the saddle.

Dwyer rode over 1,500 winners and partnered Sir Percy to Derby glory for Marcus Tregoning in 2006.

Sir Percy (far side) narrowly won the 2006 Derby for Dwyer
Sir Percy (far side) narrowly won the 2006 Derby for Dwyer (Rebecca Naden/PA)

“It’s tough saying it out loud, I’ve got my head around it, I’ve known for quite a while now I’ve been struggling with the injury,” Dwyer told Racing TV.

“I’ve thrown the kitchen sink at the rehab. I went to see the surgeon again when I had another operation two months ago and he said it’s not going to be stable enough or strong enough to ride professionally.

“It is what it is and I’ve just got to get on with it.

“It’s been tough, obviously. I’ve been in pain for a long time, it just throbs constantly but I’ve been in good hands and the team at Oaksey House have been brilliant.”

Looking ahead to the future, he said: “I’m getting back to some normality but I’ve just got to accept my career is over and I’ve just got to get on with things. It’s tough because I’m not finishing on my terms.

“I’d like to go out like Frankie (Dettori) and do a world tour, but I’d probably be at Wolverhampton and Southwell!

“It’s been a tough year or so, but it’s time to move on to the next chapter. It’s been a journey that has been unbelievable.”

As well as winning the Derby, Dwyer also won the Oaks in 2003 on Andrew Balding’s Casual Look and took the King Edward VII Stakes, Great Voltigeur and Coronation Cup on Pyledriver, trained by his father-in-law, William Muir.



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Dwyer rules out King George return on Pyledriver

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Derby-winning jockey Martin Dwyer has admitted he will not be fit to ride Pyledriver in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes as he continues his recover from a knee injury that has seen him sidelined for 15 months.

The Liverpool-born jockey, who turns 48 on Wednesday, partnered Sir Percy to Epsom Classic glory in 2006 for Marcus Tregoning and was preparing to ride Pyledriver in last year’s Dubai Sheema Classic when hurt riding out for Brian Meehan.

Dwyer severely twisted his knee when a leather iron broke and he suffered a torn ACL in March 2022.

A length recovery process has still not been completed and Dwyer said it was “tough” watching the William Muir and Chris Grassick-trained Pyledriver’s victory in Saturday’s Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“I had an operation to remove scar tissue about six weeks ago. It has helped, I’m moving forward. I’m going back to see the surgeon this week and get a bit more of an update,” said Dwyer.

“I got on a rowing machine last week, which was a massive step forward, then my knee swelled up.

“The surgeons are happy and mechanically it is working. He has kind of fixed it, but it is a bit like when you have a horse with an injury. You think, ‘he’s so much better now, we’ll give him a canter,’ but when you canter him he’s lame the next day. That’s where I am, to sum it up.”

Pyledriver was having his first run since his King George success under PJ McDonald last July.

The six-year-old, who had been off the track for 336 days with injury, took his earnings to just shy of £2 million in beating West Wind Blows in Saturday’s Group Two contest.

He has taken his race well, according to Muir, who said: “He’s grand this morning. He’s really good, come out of it like a gazelle. He went up there as good as he did yesterday morning, so I’ve got no bothers there at all.

“He trotted out well, looked a picture and it’s brilliant.”

He now looks set to defend his title on July 29, with McDonald again likely to deputise for Muir’s son-in-law.

“I would love to be fit for the King George, but that’s long odds-against to happen,” said Dwyer.

“It was tough watching again yesterday. I was delighted for the team.

“It was brilliant and great to see him bounce back like that. William has done a great job, as it was touch and go there for a while that the horse would ever run again.

Martin Dwyer has all but ruled out a return to the saddle by the end of next month
Martin Dwyer has all but ruled out a return to the saddle by the end of next month (David Davies/PA)

“It was mixed emotions, watching him run, but delighted for everyone.”

Dwyer, who has split his time between providing his expertise as a TV pundit and Lambourn’s Oaksey House rehabilitation centre, is not openly entertaining thoughts of retirement and praised the care he has received.

“Even just to get back to normal life, being able to run for a bus – I’ve been throwing the kitchen sink at it in rehab,” added Dwyer.

“I just have to focus on that and just get back to normal life and walk the dog.

“They are great at Oaksey House. The physios have been superb. Jerry Hill, the BHA doctor, speaks personally to my surgeon, they communicate and try different things, so I could not be better looked after.

“The physio at Oaksey House even came with me to see the surgeon. We are leaving no stone unturned, trying everything and let’s hope it works.”



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Martin Dwyer set for more surgery on knee injury

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Martin Dwyer will go undergo surgery again next month in a bid to return to the saddle following a knee injury that has sidelined him for over a year.

The 47-year-old Derby-winning jockey was injured in a fall when riding out for Brian Meehan last March.

Dwyer severely twisted his knee when a leather iron broke and he suffered a torn ACL.

“I’m just waiting for my operation on April 24. The operation is not severe, it is just to take out scar tissue and see what the problem is, because the knee just won’t bend. It keeps flaring up,” said Dwyer.

“I’m in Oaksey House (rehabilitation centre in Lambourn) doing everything I can, but the injury has just plateaued and we just can’t move forward.

“The original injury, the ligaments, have healed nicely, which is the main thing, but I can’t get it to bend and take weight properly.”

Dwyer, who won the 2006 Derby aboard Sir Percy for Marcus Tregoning, missed out on the winning ride aboard the Willie Muir and Chris Grassick-trained Pyledriver in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer.

Any thoughts of retirement have been put on the back-burner for the time being, however.

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Even if I’m not riding again, even getting back to normal life, I’m going to have to keep going through the same procedure,” he added.

“I’ve just got to throw the kitchen sink at rehab and get my knee right. Once I have my leg right, I will make decisions from there.”

The ardent Everton fan is married to Muir’s daughter, Claire, who recently suffered a broken leg in a fall.

“She was bed-bound for a couple of weeks, because the bone came through the skin and so I’m like Mrs Doubtfire at home, hobbling around. The pair of us, it’s a nightmare,” added Dwyer.

“I’m going to have to get a double scooter. They say bad luck comes in threes, so I’m worried about Everton going down!”



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