Jim Crowley Blog | Injury update and horses to watch for the Shadwell team this season
30 Apr 2026
My recovery has been slower than I’d have liked – I had to have another operation in March as the leg wasn’t healing as well as I’d have hoped – but that op seemed to speed things up and it’s coming along nicely now.
Everything is mending as it should be and I’ve had plenty of X-rays recently to prove that. The consultants are all very happy with things, so I’ve started to step up my rehab programme and work hard on my fitness. I’m doing most of the work here at home, I work with a very good physio so she’s a great help and I’m out cycling every day. I haven’t sat on a racehorse yet but I have sat on one of the pony’s here, and that felt fine, so I just want to get as fit as I can before I start riding out again. Hopefully that will be fairly imminent.
In terms of setting a date for my comeback, while there are plenty of meetings I’d love to be back for, I’m not setting a date in concrete. I don’t want to be disappointed if I don’t then make that. Realistically though, Royal Ascot is the earliest I’m probably looking at and clearly I’d love to be back for that. At the end of the day though, the surgeons will have a big say. I’ll then have to pass a medical and get the all clear from BHA doctor Jerry Hill, so there are a few hoops to jump through.
While things are definitely going the right way now, it hasn’t been easy. I’ve been active my whole life, then obviously following the accident I was in bed for two months and in a wheelchair for another month. Yes it has been tough, but I know it could have been much worse, so I have focussed on the positives. I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel now, and importantly, I’ve been able to keep busy again with the recovery process.
A look at the Shadwell stars for this season
The team at Shadwell have been very supportive through all of this and they are keen to see me back in the saddle, which is a great boost. I certainly think I’ve got a few more years in me, and when the time comes, I hope I can go out on my terms. One of the motivating factors is seeing the nice horses running in the Shadwell silks. It’s not always easy watching other jockeys ride them, but as I say I’m taking the positives knowing I’ll be on them when I’m back.
I was at Sandown recently to watch Raaheeb, and like most people I was really impressed with his performance. I won on him at Ascot last year and I know the family well, as he’s a brother to Baaeed and Hukum and a half-brother to three other winners, so he does have big boots to fill. Physically I’d say he’s more Hukum than Baaeed, but as a family they get better and better with age and there’s no reason to think this fellow won’t be the same.
He really filled the eye at Sandown. He looks like a proper horse, and as exciting as that win was, I do think we’ve only just scratched the surface with him. I am sure he will prove to be top class. He will miss Epsom but he has a massive future ahead of him in races like the Irish Derby, King George, and even the Arc at the end of the year could all be for him.
Watch this space with him is what I’d say! He won’t let the family down and he’s certainly one of the horses that gets me up in the morning. Another is Yazin, an impressive winner at Southwell recently. Ryan Moore rode him that day and liked him a lot. He’s got some big entries in the Dante and the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting, so clearly connections think plenty of him. He’s another I hope will take us to the top places this season.
The filly Touleen is another Shadwell homebred I know well, as I was fourth in the 1000 Guineas nine years ago on her dam, Talaayeb. She didn’t quite stay a mile, and as a two-year-old I thought perhaps Touleen would be the same, but having watched her run over seven furlongs in the trial last time, I thought she would appreciate another furlong. If she does run in the 1000 Guineas, I can certainly see her outrunning her current odds and if she can step forward from Newbury, there’s no reason she couldn’t beat her mum’s fourth place finish in the race.
I have to mention an old favourite, Al Aasy, who I thought ran a really good race at Newbury. I don’t know what the plan is with him, but William Haggas and the team have done an amazing job with him. If he can go back to Glorious Goodwood again this summer, that would be very special.
Jim Crowley, Coral Racing Ambassador
Everything is mending as it should be and I’ve had plenty of X-rays recently to prove that. The consultants are all very happy with things, so I’ve started to step up my rehab programme and work hard on my fitness. I’m doing most of the work here at home, I work with a very good physio so she’s a great help and I’m out cycling every day. I haven’t sat on a racehorse yet but I have sat on one of the pony’s here, and that felt fine, so I just want to get as fit as I can before I start riding out again. Hopefully that will be fairly imminent.
In terms of setting a date for my comeback, while there are plenty of meetings I’d love to be back for, I’m not setting a date in concrete. I don’t want to be disappointed if I don’t then make that. Realistically though, Royal Ascot is the earliest I’m probably looking at and clearly I’d love to be back for that. At the end of the day though, the surgeons will have a big say. I’ll then have to pass a medical and get the all clear from BHA doctor Jerry Hill, so there are a few hoops to jump through.
While things are definitely going the right way now, it hasn’t been easy. I’ve been active my whole life, then obviously following the accident I was in bed for two months and in a wheelchair for another month. Yes it has been tough, but I know it could have been much worse, so I have focussed on the positives. I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel now, and importantly, I’ve been able to keep busy again with the recovery process.
A look at the Shadwell stars for this season
The team at Shadwell have been very supportive through all of this and they are keen to see me back in the saddle, which is a great boost. I certainly think I’ve got a few more years in me, and when the time comes, I hope I can go out on my terms. One of the motivating factors is seeing the nice horses running in the Shadwell silks. It’s not always easy watching other jockeys ride them, but as I say I’m taking the positives knowing I’ll be on them when I’m back.
I was at Sandown recently to watch Raaheeb, and like most people I was really impressed with his performance. I won on him at Ascot last year and I know the family well, as he’s a brother to Baaeed and Hukum and a half-brother to three other winners, so he does have big boots to fill. Physically I’d say he’s more Hukum than Baaeed, but as a family they get better and better with age and there’s no reason to think this fellow won’t be the same.
He really filled the eye at Sandown. He looks like a proper horse, and as exciting as that win was, I do think we’ve only just scratched the surface with him. I am sure he will prove to be top class. He will miss Epsom but he has a massive future ahead of him in races like the Irish Derby, King George, and even the Arc at the end of the year could all be for him.
Watch this space with him is what I’d say! He won’t let the family down and he’s certainly one of the horses that gets me up in the morning. Another is Yazin, an impressive winner at Southwell recently. Ryan Moore rode him that day and liked him a lot. He’s got some big entries in the Dante and the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting, so clearly connections think plenty of him. He’s another I hope will take us to the top places this season.
The filly Touleen is another Shadwell homebred I know well, as I was fourth in the 1000 Guineas nine years ago on her dam, Talaayeb. She didn’t quite stay a mile, and as a two-year-old I thought perhaps Touleen would be the same, but having watched her run over seven furlongs in the trial last time, I thought she would appreciate another furlong. If she does run in the 1000 Guineas, I can certainly see her outrunning her current odds and if she can step forward from Newbury, there’s no reason she couldn’t beat her mum’s fourth place finish in the race.
I have to mention an old favourite, Al Aasy, who I thought ran a really good race at Newbury. I don’t know what the plan is with him, but William Haggas and the team have done an amazing job with him. If he can go back to Glorious Goodwood again this summer, that would be very special.
Jim Crowley, Coral Racing Ambassador
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