Ray Cochrane today said he was 'totally surprised' by news of his recommendation for a bravery award as a result of his actions in the aftermath of the plane crash, which claimed the life of pilot Patrick Mackey on June 1st.
The jockey was injured in the incident, along with weighing room colleague Frankie Dettori, but fought to rescue Mackey from the wreckage before being forced back by the flames.
The nomination came from Peter Amos, the managing director of Jockey Club Estates, and will now be considered by the Home Office.
Cochrane told the Racing Channel of his recollections of the accident.
'As soon as the propeller hit the ground I knew we were in trouble,' he said.
'Everything was still, deathly quiet, but I started to make a bit of noise then.
'Your first thoughts when you hit the ground are just to get out and get everyone else out.
'I`ve been trained for my pilot`s licences and they teach you in that situation if something does happen the first thing you do is get out.
'Frankie was alive, he was making plenty of noise, but the pilot was slouched over, he was unconscious.
'I got Frankie out of the back door and I tried to go back but then the plane started to explode.'
He also spoke of the ways in which the crash had altered his life.
'A lot of things have changed, your priorities change and your attitude to life and to other people change, I`m a different man,' he concluded.
