Caldwell v Maguire [2001] EWCA Civ 1054, [2002] PIQR P6

The claimant and defendants were all professional jockeys. During a race the defendants’ riding caused the serious injury of the claimant. The claimant raised an action for damages.

The claimant’s case was dismissed. It was held that horse racing is a competitive sport and that the risk of injury is high.  Therefore, it was not possible to consider the defendant’s momentary lapse of judgement as negligence because the opportunity for injury was abundant and the choices available to jockeys to avoid or reduce risk were limited.  In such circumstances, it was not possible to characterise momentary carelessness as negligence.

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