YORKSHIRE GRIT!

Summer Festival is a massive thrill for injury defier Allan

- MELISSA JONES

YORKSHIRE-based David Allan is living proof that jockeys are some of the toughest athletes on the planet.

Five years ago after an unfortunate incident on the gallops, the 43-year-old was told he would never race again.

But he defied medics and is now one of the longest-serving riders at one stable in the entire horse racing industry.

As he prepares to ride in the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival, he recalls: "I thought it was game over. It happened when I was riding work on the gallops. A pheasant came out of a hedge and spooked my horse.