“I said to Tye, ‘Do you realise how you’re regarded?’ And he looked at me quite oddly and said, ‘Not really.’

“I said, ‘I think you’d be terribly touched if you knew the regard you’re held in.’

“He’s so humble and hard-working. They don’t always realise so it’s nice to tell someone like him how well regarded they are out there,” O’Keeffe said. 

One month after a race fall in Hong Kong, the AJA released an update on Angland’s condition on Thursday, confirming he had suffered a fracture and dislocation of the spine as well as a spinal cord injury.

Doctors said the long-term prognosis is hard to diagnose but ‘there remains a likelihood of Tye’s outcome being quadriplegic.’

O’Keeffe said the response has been overwhelming and shows the racing community is ready to wrap its arms around Angland and his family. 

“In this situation, it’s clear the wish of the family is to wait and see, so there’s no rush. But they are well aware that there’s a massive show of support, tangible support, if and when that ends up being the case,” O’Keeffe said.

Dubbed the ‘Wantabadgery Wonder’, Angland won his first Wagga Gold Cup this year. Murrumbidgee Turf Club chief executive Scott Sanbrook said the former local has been an outstanding supporter.

“He’s been our special guest at Cup carnival time on a couple of occasions. He’s always been only too willing to help out and a great ambassador for racing,” Sanbrook said.

“Our thoughts have been with him and his family and we’d love to support him any way we can.

“Tye’s never forgotten where he came from and loved coming back to Wagga. To win the Cup this year, it was a great thrill for him, you could see how much it meant.”

Angland’s fall at Sha Tin racecourse on November 25 was a sobering indication of what jockeys face every time they race.

“Whilst it can be an exhilarating and rewarding profession, it is also a highly dangerous profession,” O’Keeffe said.

“From the riding group around Australia and internationally as well, there’s a clear recognition that something can go wrong every time they go out. It does serve as a reminder of the challenges and difficulties of the job that these riders do.”

Former Wagga jockey Brad Clark has ridden against Angland. Now a mentor to apprentices, he said the desire to get home safely every race is always in the back of a rider’s mind. But it can’t be guaranteed.

“You could run that race over 10 times and have people fall and nobody get hurt. It’s just the way he fell and landed. Sometimes it’s the simplest falls that cause the most damage,” Clark said. “I’ve been in a four-horse fall and we all walked away. 

“A lot of people whinge about how much jockeys get paid to ride but they don't realise the risk every time… they’re animals, they’re not machines. Things can and do go wrong.”

He said while there’s fierce competitiveness, camaraderie is strong. After all, only other jockeys really understand a jockey’s life.

“He’s a champion bloke and comes from a good family, a good country family,” Clark said.

“Obviously whatever we say and do at the moment won’t help but just knowing that people are there, it might just give him the spirit to keep pushing through. We’ve got to sit and pray and hope that a miracle comes along.”

Clark said Angland has always shown incredible drive and determination and that will help him face the challenges of an uncertain future.

O’Keeffe was in absolute agreement.

“To be the professional, elite athlete that he’s been in a very, very demanding sport, in which he’s had to be so disciplined – and show enormous strength of character, resilience and determination – if those qualities are transferred to the situation he now founds himself in, it will be of assistance to him dealing with it,” O’Keeffe said. 

“I really do believe that.”

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