LISTOWEL-born jockey Kevin Brouder has announced his retirement from race-riding. The 27-year-old, who has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, has been forced to call it a day on medical advice.

Brouder rode his first graded winner aboard the Charles Byrnes-trained Turnpike Trip in the Grade 3 Joe Mac Novice Hurdle at Tipperary in October 2019. The following February, the jockey rode a double at the Dublin Racing Festival, winning the Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle on Thosedaysaregone and the William Fry Handicap Hurdle on Treacysenniscorthy. That 2019/’20 season proved to be his best numerically, with 40 winners.

A bad fall at Tipperary in July 2021 left the jockey with a broken hip and femur, which required a series of operations. At one point it looked as though those injuries would prove career ending, but Brouder showed great determination to return to the saddle in September of the following year.

After riding a double on his first day back in the plate at Ballinrobe, it looked as though the bad times were behind him but unfortunately a serious leg break at Listowel less than two weeks later was to ultimately cut short a hugely promising career.

Rehabilitation work

Brouder said: “I wanted to come back. I went over to Oakley House in England for a period of rehabilitation. They have a lot more technology over there. They found that the muscles in my leg were weakened and would never get back the same. I have been trying and trying but the medical professionals have advised against a comeback. If I broke the leg again anything could happen.

“It was hard to take it but that’s a part of life. I suppose the only good thing, if you can call it that, was that I got to finish up at Listowel. Everyone wants to retire on their own spot and although it wasn’t planned, I went out in my hometown with a bit of a bang!”

Looking to the future, Brouder intends to remain involved with horses in some capacity, although he has yet to make any definite plans.