Biddlecombe suffers stroke

TERRY BIDDLECOMBE remains in hospital after suffering a stroke on Saturday, according to his wife, Henrietta Knight.

The three-times champion jumps jockey, 70, is undergoing treatment at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Knight said in a statement on her website, www.henandterry.com: “Currently he is being fed by a drip and by a tube directly into his stomach. It looks very uncomfortable but he seems fairly peaceful.”

Biddlecombe has played a significant role in Knight’s training career, and also helped nurture the development of three-times Gold Cup winner Best Mate.

Knight, meanwhile, is looking forward to stepping her talented chaser Somersby over to staying distances this season. Although he has failed to find the target since December 2009, the seven-year-old has run a number of excellent races in defeat.

He was last seen finishing third behind Master Minded over two and a half miles at Aintree and could make his seasonal reappearance at Kempton at the end of October with a view to running in the King George VI Chase over Christmas.

“It’s a two-and-a-half-mile race Riverside Theatre won last year. He’s only won two chases so he’s eligible to run in a graduation chase and it should be a good opportunity.