Guy Disney
Born (1982-03-17) 17 March 1982
NationalityBritish
EducationMalvern College, Worcestershire
Alma materRoyal Agricultural University, Gloucestershire
OccupationJockey
Known forWinner, Royal Artillery Gold Cup, Sandown Park, Surrey (Feb. 2017)
First amputee to win a horse race at a professional race course in Britain
British Army veteran

Captain[1] Guy Fraser Disney MBE (born 17 March 1982[2]) is a British steeplechase jockey. He is the first amputee jockey to win a horse race at a professional race-course in Britain. He won the Royal Artillery Gold Cup, on his horse, Rathlin Rose, at Sandown Park Racecourse, in Esher in Surrey, on 17 February 2017.[3] Disney's horse was trained by racehorse trainer David Pipe.[3]

As a former serviceman in the British Army, Disney said his thoughts turned to his fallen colleagues in Afghanistan when he won.[4]

Education

From the years 1995–2000,[5] Disney was educated at Malvern College,[6] a co-educational boarding and day independent school in the town of Malvern in Worcestershire, in the West of England, followed by the Royal Agricultural University in the market town of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, also in the West of England.

Life and career

Guy Disney served in The Light Dragoons, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, in Afghanistan. He suffered a life-changing injury, leading to leg amputation, and the fitting of a prosthetic leg, when his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while on patrol in Babaji in Helmand Province, in July 2009.[4]

Disney has since worked for the charitable organisation Walking With The Wounded, which helps wounded former British Armed Forces servicemen and women to transition to civilian life.[2] In March 2014, he returned to his former boarding school, Malvern College, to talk about his successful expedition with the organisation, accompanied by other wounded former service personnel, to both the North and South Poles.[7] Disney was initially rejected in his application to ride with a prosthetic limb by the British Horseracing Authority, but was eventually granted a licence in 2015, finishing third place on the horse Ballyallia Man at Sandown Park's Royal Artillery Gold Cup on 13 February in the same year.[1]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to horse racing, polar expeditions and veterans' charities.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Afghanistan veteran Captain Guy Disney rides Sandown winner eight years after losing lower right leg". The Daily Telegraph. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Guy Disney". Walking With The Wounded. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Sandown: Amputee jockey Guy Disney takes historic victory in Royal Artillery Gold Cup". BBC Sport. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Amputee war veteran Guy Disney delights in historic racing victory". ITV News. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "OM Lecture: Guy Disney (2.95-00)". Malvernian Society, Malvern College. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Former Malvern College pupil loses leg in Afghanistan". Malvern Gazette. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "South Pole hero speaks at Malvern College". Cotswold Life magazine. 29 April 2014. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N17.
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