DERBY-WINNING jockey Martin Dwyer has been forced to call time on his career following a serious knee injury.
Dwyer tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and damaged the bone in a gallops fall in March 2022.
He has undergone surgery twice since but despite his best efforts to get back into the saddle, he's been unable to return to the level he needs to compete at the top.
Dwyer, best known for his recent partnership with King George winner Pyledriver, retires with eight top-level wins on his CV.
He told Racing Post: “I spoke with the surgeon and he told me that I would be able to get back to a good quality of life with the knee but it is going to be problematic ongoing and it’s just not going to be strong and stable enough to ride professionally – it won’t stand up to it.
“I've tried everything. I’m still doing all the things [in rehab] to get back to be able to run – I want to be in a position to run for a bus and I can’t do anything like that at the moment.”
The 48-year-old began his career in racing aged 15 and was apprentice to Ian Balding.
He reached the pinnacle of the sport in 2006 when riding Sir Percy to a dramatic win in the Derby.
Dwyer took a daring route up the inside on Sir Percy and prevailed in a four-way photo.
It was his second Group 1 win on Marcus Tregoning's star and the win completed the Epsom Classic set, as he won the Oaks on Casual Look three years before.
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Dwyer will be best known to recent audiences thanks to Pyledriver.
Although he missed out on riding him when he landed last year's King George, Dwyer partnered him for five wins.
That includes the Group 1 Coronation Cup, where he downed the big guns in an emotional success.
Dwyer's best year came in 2002, when he rode a total of 106 winners, and he retires with his head held firmly high.
He added: “I’m proud that I tried my best and was able to achieve more than I ever thought I would do.
"Winning the three Group 1s at Epsom is something I'm proud of achieving."
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