Injury forces jockey Roberts to retire

Former champion jockey Michael Roberts (47) has retired on the advice of doctors following a severe neck injury last year.

Former champion jockey Michael Roberts (47) has retired on the advice of doctors following a severe neck injury last year.

The South African has not ridden since injuring vertebrae in his neck in a fall at Wolverhampton last September.

Roberts won the jockeys' title 11 times in South Africa before moving to England in 1992 when he lifted the championship at his first attempt with 206 winners.

His biggest victory came in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes on Mtoto at Ascot in 1988. He also won the English 2,000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks.