Welsh Grand National-winning jockey O'Brien dies aged 39

Jockey Tom O'Brien has died at the age of 39 after being diagnosed with cancer.

Irishman O'Brien rode more than 1,000 winners in Britain and Ireland, including two at the Cheltenham Festival and the Welsh Grand National twice.

The nephew of trainer Aidan O'Brien, he was a mainstay of the Minehead operation run by Philip Hobbs, joining as a teenager and remaining until his retirement in 2023.

Riding the Hobbs-trained Thyme Hill, O'Brien won the Liverpool Hurdle in 2021 and the Kauto Star Novices' Chase in 2022.

"It's very sad, particularly for his wife Hayley and two young children," said Hobbs, who now shares Minehead with Johnson White.