Freddy Tylicki is suing jockey Graham Gibbons over the 2016 fall that left him paralysed from the waist down, Racing Post reports. A five-day hearing is set to begin on Nov. 29 at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in London, and has a potential value of £6-million, according to court documents obtained by Racing Post.
The documents allegedly spell out Tylicki's argument that Gibbons caused his injuries by moving his mount, the eventual winner Madame Butterfly (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), towards the rail in a maiden race at Kempton on Oct. 31, 2016, despite Tylicki shouting “Gibbo!” in an effort to stop the move into the space his horse mount, Nellie Deen (Ire) (Dream Ahead), occupied. Nellie Deen was subsequently bumped, clipped heels and fell, bringing down two other horses and causing Tylicki to be trampled.
Gibbons's defence allegedly states that he was unaware of Tylicki's position until the bump, and that rather than deliberately moving his mount into the way of Tylicki's, that Tylicki had attempted to move his mount where there was insufficient room.
An inquiry was held by the Kempton stewards in the aftermath, but the incident was deemed accidental.
Gibbons, once a celebrated rider, has a troubled recent past. He was banned for two years in 2017 after testing positive for cocaine, and he was also found to have coerced an apprentice jockey into providing a urine sample he could mask as his own. Gibbons was jailed for 16 weeks in 2019 after his fourth drink driving charge.
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