David Maxwell in action

Amateur jockey David Maxwell calls time on riding career aged 47

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Tue September 16, 2025 · 3M ago

Owner and amateur jockey David Maxwell has made the decision to retire from race-riding largely due to the latest back injury he picked up while in action at Aintree in the spring.

The popular 47-year-old entrepreneur and unique rider has enjoyed 75 winners in Britain and also tasted success while riding in both Ireland and France.

His single Graded-race victory came aboard the Paul Nicholls-trained Cat Tiger in a Grade 3 chase at Auteuil in November 2018, one of 17 winners he partnered for the 14-times Champion Trainer.

Maxwell has been one of the most enduring characters on the National Hunt scene in Britain for many years but will not return to the saddle having been on the sidelines since damaging his spine in a fall at the Chair from Joker De Mai in Aintree's Foxhunters' Open Hunters' Chase at the Grand National Festival in April.

He will keep a small number to race in France but is set to sell the vast majority of his horses in a dispersal sale at Cheltenham next month.

Speaking on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, he said: "I'm not sure I ever thought I'd have to made this decision but as I've closed in towards 50 it has become more and more inevitable.

"It's some level of sense prevailing, I've now had four spinal fractures and I started having problems in my arm across the summer. And when you start looking at the scans and add that to the fact that I'm 47 and an amateur - supposedly doing this for fun - you have to think of the odds and think of other considerations outside of just 'I love horses' and come up with a sensible decision.

"I always said I would be sensible when the time came. I have vacillated on this unbelievably over the summer, but eventually the decision makes itself and you have to move on from that point. I have to say, ringing and telling the trainers last week was quite a tough moment."

In terms of moving his horses on, Maxwell admits he couldn't stand the thought of watching them in action without being the person doing the steering.

"There have been points over the past couple of years where I have been injured and I have had to stand at the races and watch the horses and, honestly, it is like torture," he said. "It is way worse than anything I can describe.

"In fact, it reaffirms me that when I had to tell (joint-trainer) Josh Moore that I was retiring, he recounted his own experience after hanging up his boots and watching horses that were his rides - watching them win - and the pain of watching horses that you should be on winning, it's very hard to get across to people that aren't riding them, but it's incredibly painful.

"So I thought I need to go complete cold-turkey on this. I need to stop. I'm going to keep a few in France but that's about it, so the only thing to do then was for everything to go to the sales. It'll be fun (having a few horses in France) as, honestly, my wife likes to hang out in French restaurants, but if I kept horses in the UK I'll be back on them by Christmas!

"You can't fiddle around the edges of these things, this is an all-or-nothing (decision). You gallop at the last fence hell-for-leather or you don't do it at all, it is totally binary. One of the issues is that the kids that I'm galloping to the last fence besides are 22 years old and probably made of rubber, I'm 47 and not. So at that point you have to just say we're stopping.

"Although life is long, I'll reassess in a couple of years and probably buy some more horses as the next chapter."

Reflecting on his career as an amateur, Maxwell said: "I've often said that I can't believe it's legal. I can't believe I've been allowed to do it and I can't believe how much fun it's been. I will miss it more than I can tell you because it's what I've done every winter for the last 25 years, but everything has to come to an end at some point and I would rather make the decision than have the decision made for me."

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