Jockey Michael Walker has called time on his career after riding more than 2000 winners in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Walker has made the decision to hang up the saddle after suffering a brain injury during a fall at Pakenham jumpouts in July last year.
“I’ll never be able to return to riding,” Walker told Racing.com.
“With the brain injury, it’s just something that I’ll never be able to do again.”
The biggest concern for Walker has been fatigue and memory issues which would make race riding too dangerous going forward.
“Sometimes, I think that I’m getting better but obviously, I speak to my partner Lauren, we try to sit down to work out things, like I have to use a diary, there’s heaps of little things I have to do to remember things,” he explained.
“It’s a day-to-day battle with the brain and also my back, because I broke my back as well, I still have to go to the physio every week. If I don’t go to physio, it’s like I could barely walk or pick the kids up.
“Everything that’s happened with this last injury, it’s just changed my life altogether.
“Things are so different, I would love to go to the races, I miss seeing horses, but I just struggle, I get tired. With noise and people around you, it makes you tired, if there’s too much going on around me, it just zonks me.”
