Veteran jockey Tyler Conner has announced his retirement from racing at age 31.

The August 4 social media announcement came just days after a serious spill during the July 24 card at Colonial Downs left him with multiple spinal injuries and numbness in both hands. The accident occurred in the stretch run of the seventh race, when Conner’s mount, Stanza, clipped heels with Montador, ridden by Francisco Arrieta, who drifted out in search of running room. The incident sent Conner crashing hard to the turf, immediately prompting concern from fellow riders and horsemen.

Following the spill, Conner was medevacked to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, and Colonial officials canceled the final four races on the Thursday card in the wake of the accident.

Arrieta has been suspended for 15 days for the incident.

In a heartfelt message posted to social media, Conner shared the extent of his injuries—a broken C1 vertebra, a T5 compression fracture, a bruised spinal cord, and central spinal cord syndrome. Though he is able to walk, Conner said his hands “just straight up don’t work,” particularly his left, which remains numb and largely unusable.

“Everything feels like it’s asleep most of the day,” he added. “But I am alive and walking. So things are good.”

In an interview July 26 on Off to the Races Radio, Conner’s agent, Paula Bacon, praised his attitude.

“He couldn’t be in any better spirits,” Bacon said. “He was joking, very joyful, very thankful, really amazing. His attitude is unreal.”

Conner used his post to thank the racing community for the overwhelming outpouring of support. “I appreciate everybody reaching out,” he said. “The GoFundMe was not my idea, but I appreciate Hillary Pridham so much for doing that for me… It’ll help me get through the next part of life, for sure.”

The fund has raised over $60,000.

That next part of Conner’s life won’t include race riding, however.

“Definitely not riding anymore,” Conner said bluntly. “I have zero desire to ride another race. I’ve been wanting to quit for a while anyway, so now we just have a good reason to.”

Conner retires with 1,271 victories from 7,997 career mounts, good for a 16% win rate, and purse earnings of nearly $29.3 million. Since launching his professional career in 2014, he became a familiar face across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast circuits, riding regularly at tracks like Penn National, Parx Racing, Delaware Park, and Colonial Downs.

Among his career highlights were a Grade 2 victory aboard Wow Whata Summer in the 2022 Penn Mile and Grade 3 wins aboard Honor D Lady, The Lieutenant, and Mr. Roary.

As he takes time to heal and determine what lies ahead, Conner remains grounded.

“I appreciate every single one of you so much,” he said, going on to add, “The next part of life is waiting. So I’m going to see what I can figure out and get healthy, and see what I can do again.”