| Liam Treadwell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation | National Hunt jockey |
| Born | 3 January 1986 Arundel, West Sussex, England |
| Died | 23 June 2020 (aged 34) Billingsley, Shropshire, England |
| Career wins | 308 |
| Significant horses | |
| Mon Mome | |
Liam Treadwell (3 January 1986 – 23 June 2020) was an English National Hunt jockey, 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 races.
Treadwell was born in Arundel, West Sussex, England. He attended the local Angmering School.[1][2] He was nicknamed "Tredders".[3]
Treadwell worked alongside trainer Venetia Williams.[4] 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.[5] It was Treadwell's debut in the Grand National, in his first season in jump racing.[6] After his Grand National victory on 4 April 2009, Clare Balding interviewed him and made fun of his apparently bad teeth. Both the BBC and Balding apologised by 6 April.[7] Balding later said on BBC's Have I Got News for You 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.[8][9] The BBC received over 2,000 complaints about Balding's remarks.[10] Treadwell later received calls from dentists offering to fix his teeth for free.[1] Later in 2009, Treadwell caused another upset by winning the United House Gold Cup at Ascot on The Last Derby at odds of 33/1.[11]
In 2013, Treadwell won the Byrne Group Plate race at the Cheltenham Festival on Carrickboy.[12][13] He was taken to hospital after falling in the Topham Chase.[14] In the 2013–14 season, Treadwell had 42 winners, the most he achieved in a racing season.[15] Treadwell was a standby rider for the 2014 Grand National.[16] In 2015, Treadwell came third at the Grand National riding Monbeg Dude,[12] and won the Grand Sefton Steeplechase on Bennys Mist.[13] In 2016, Treadwell sustained a head injury after falling at Bangor. He was unable to race for six months.[4] His injury was featured in a Professional Jockeys Association film about the dangers of concussion in horse racing.[17]
Treadwell announced his retirement on 13 February 2018,[9][8] citing health reasons, including his head injury and a shoulder injury. He had 298 winners at the time.[15] In March 2019, Treadwell resumed racing, working with trainer Alastair Ralph.[8][4] In his first race back, he rode Czech Her Out, who narrowly lost out to Miss Honey Ryder.[18] He rode ten winners in the 2019–20 season, and worked as an assistant trainer for Ralph.[2]
In total, Treadwell won 308 National Hunt races, and 28 flat races.[2]
Treadwell died on 23 June 2020, aged 34, in Billingsley, Shropshire after taking a mixture of drugs including an animal painkiller and class A substances.[19][20][21] At an inquest in February 2021 a coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.[21]
