Liam Treadwell (3 January 198623 June 2020) was an English

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

, who won over 300 races between 2009 and 2019. He won the 2009 Grand National on Mon Mome at odds of 100/1, and also won the United House Gold Cup, Byrne Group Plate and

Grand Sefton Steeplechase The Grand Sefton Handicap Chase is a National Hunt racing, National Hunt Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged six years or older. It is run at Aintree Racecourse, Ai ...

races.

Personal life

Treadwell was born in

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much la ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. He attended the local Angmering School. He was nicknamed "Tredders".

Career

Treadwell worked alongside trainer

Venetia Williams Venetia Williams (born 10 May 1960) is an English racehorse trainer specialising in National Hunt racing. She is based at stables at Aramstone in Herefordshire, England. She won the Hennessy Gold Cup and King George VI Chase with Teeton Mil ...

. He was the winner of the 2009 Grand National, having ridden Mon Mome to victory at odds of 100/1. It was only the fifth time a horse at those odds won the race, the most recent being Foinavon in 1967. It was Treadwell's debut in the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

, in his first season in jump racing. After his Grand National victory on 4 April 2009,

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...

interviewed him and made fun of his apparently bad teeth. Both the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and Balding apologised by 6 April. Balding later said on BBC's ''

Have I Got News for You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

'' quiz that she believed Treadwell to have had his teeth "kicked out" by a horse, a common injury suffered by jockeys, apologising again for her error. The BBC received over 2,000 complaints about Balding's remarks. Treadwell later received calls from dentists offering to fix his teeth for free. Later in 2009, Treadwell caused another upset by winning the United House Gold Cup at

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

on The Last Derby at odds of 33/1. In 2013, Treadwell won the Byrne Group Plate race at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

on Carrickboy. He was taken to hospital after falling in the Topham Chase. In the 2013–14 season, Treadwell had 42 winners, the most he achieved in a racing season. Treadwell was a standby rider for the

2014 Grand National The 2014 Grand National (officially known as the 2014 Crabbie's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 167th annual running of the Grand National Horse racing, horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece Ste ...

. In 2015, he came third at the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

riding Monbeg Dude, and won the

on Bennys Mist. In 2016, he sustained a head injury after falling at Bangor. He was unable to race for six months. His injury was featured in a Professional Jockeys Association film about the dangers of

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

in horse racing. Treadwell announced his retirement on 13 February 2018, citing health reasons, including his head injury and a shoulder injury. He had 298 winners at the time. In March 2019, he resumed racing, working with trainer Alastair Ralph. In his first race back, he rode Czech Her Out, who narrowly lost out to Miss Honey Ryder. He rode ten winners in the 2019–20 season, and worked as an assistant trainer for Ralph. In total, Treadwell won 308

races, and 28 flat races.

Death

Treadwell died on 23 June 2020, aged 34, in

Billingsley, Shropshire Billingsley is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Bridgnorth and lies in the diocese of Hereford. The village is situated on the B4363 road, south of Deuxhill. Between the two p ...

, after taking a mixture of drugs including an animal painkiller and class A substances. At an inquest in February 2021 a coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treadwell, Liam 1986 births 2020 deaths Drug-related deaths in England English jockeys People from Arundel Sportspeople from West Sussex

Personal life

Career

Death

See also

References