Mick Channon, trainer of Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1) winner Youmzain among several group winners this year, is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday after suffering serious injuries in car accident that killed owner and bloodstock agent Tim Corby, Channon's longtime friend, on Wednesday in Leicestershire, England.
Channon, 59, and his son Jack, 15, were taken to Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham. The elder Channon sustained broken ribs, a broken arm, a fractured jaw, and a punctured lung and was in intensive care on Thursday, Racing Post reported. He is to have pins inserted in his arm and his jaw wired on Friday.
The Channons were passengers in a car driven by Corby, 63, who died when the vehicle left the road and hit a concrete post, Leicestershire Police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are asking anyone who saw the car before the crash or witnessed the accident to contact them.
Channon’s son was not believed to be seriously injured, but was undergoing precautionary medical tests. The trio was en route to the Channons’ West Ilsley stables from the Doncaster St. Leger sales.
Under the stable name Box 41, Corby enjoyed success as an owner. Horses he campaigned include Halicarnassus, a Cape Cross (Ire) colt whom Channon trained to win two group races last year, including the Totepool Rose of Lancaster Stakes (Eng-G3).
Corby also purchased and eventually sold Katchit, a Kalanisi (Ire) gelding who in March won the prestigious Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy, the most sought after event in National Hunt racing for two-mile hurdlers, at Cheltenham for trainer Alan King.
"Tim Corby has been a life-long and hugely enthusiastic supporter of our sport and epitomized everything that is fun and positive about it," Gavin Pritchard-Gordon, executive chairman of British Bloodstock Marketing and a long-time friend of Corby, told Racing Post.
"Win or lose, he greeted all and sundry with a smile and a quip from his infectious sense of humor, and furthermore was a very shrewd and successful judge of horses."
Channon’s son Michael said his father and Corby had been friends for more than 30 years.
Channon’s principal client is Dubai-based businessman Jaber Abdullah, owner of Youmzain, who narrowly missed overhauling Dylan Thomas in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere (Fr-G1), finishing a head back in second.
Other group winners this season for Channon include Orizaba, Please Sing, and Championship Point.