16-year-old Twiston-Davies wins at Aintree

Teenage amateur jockey Willie Twiston-Davies has suffered a broken leg in a freak fall at Stratford races.

The 16-year-old, who is the son of Grand National and Gold Cup-winning trainer Nigel, was taken to Warwick Hospital to be operated on.

Twiston-Davies was injured after his mount Battlecry slipped on the bend.

Earlier this month, Twiston-Davies became the youngest rider to win over the National fences when landing the Foxhunters Chase at Aintree.

Willie's brother, Sam Twiston-Davies, said: "It's bad news as he's broken his femur in his right leg.

"He's obviously going to be out of action for quite a while, but he's not in too bad spirits, considering."

Willie Twiston-Davies, who is set to turn professional after he has taken his GCSEs, has had a rollercoaster few weeks.

He was left in tears when Baby Run unseated him two fences from home in the Foxhunters at the Cheltenham Festival in March, before triumphing in the Aintree version.

Earlier on Sunday, Nigel Twiston-Davies announced Willie's 18-year-old brother Sam would partner Baby Run - the horse he guided to victory in the 2010 Foxhunters at Cheltenham - in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown on Saturday.

Nigel Twiston-Davies has won the Grand National twice - with Earth Summit (1998) and Bindaree (2002) - and claimed the Gold Cup last year with Imperial Commander.

Stable jockey Paddy Brennan recently announced he would be going freelance. His decision came after an increasing number of rides were being allocated to the Twiston-Davies brothers.

Willie Twiston-Davies is not the only jump jockey to suffer injury recently, with Peter Toole and Richard Hawkins both seriously hurt, and still in hospital, after falls at Aintree and Taunton respectively.

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