Tom Scudamore has announced his retirement from the saddle with immediate effect.

The 40-year-old made the decision to call time on his riding career after being unseated from Ya Know Yaseff at Leicester on Thursday, with the fall prompting him to reassess the future.

He told the Daily Mail: “I had a concussion 10 days ago and I have been concussed a few times in the past. At my age you have to be careful. I feel I have had a bit of a warning and falls I could take in the past are harder to take now.

“There was no concussion after my fall at Leicester but I got a right kicking and I thought I have had my warning now.

“Not everybody gets to go out on their own terms but I am. I am not retiring, I am just changing job, although I don’t know what that job will be yet!”

Scudamore rode over 1,500 winners during his career, with Thistlecrack’s 2016 victories in both the Stayers’ Hurdle and King George VI Chase his most high-profile successes.

The rider hails from a racing dynasty, with his father Peter an eight-times champion jockey over jumps, while his grandfather Michael rode Oxo to victory in the 1959 Grand National. His brother, Michael, is also a successful trainer.

Scudamore rode his first winner in 1998 and recorded his best seasonal tally in the 2014-15 campaign when he partnered 150 winners.

He also enjoyed a long association with the David Pipe yard, following in the footsteps of his father who was stable jockey for Pipe’s father, Martin.

Speaking to Great British Racing on Scudamore’s retirement and their successful partnership, Pipe said: “Tom started riding for me when I was training Point-to-Point horses. He was a young kid and I wasn’t much older, and he has ridden for me all of my career so far since 2006/7, so it’s going to be strange without him but he will remain involved in the yard.

“He has been a true professional in and out of the saddle and has had a marvellous career. Tom’s the ultimate professional. He’s good on the horse and he’s good off the horse, and with the jockeys in the yard and the owners, he’s very educated.”

Peter Scudamore, Tom’s father, said of his son’s retirement: “Firstly I’m very proud of the way Tom’s conducted himself throughout his career. He’s probably a better jockey than me, he’s set a great example to everybody and I’m very proud of that.

“When he was kid, he always said he was going to be a jockey, he had the opportunities to do so, and he carried it out but with a lot of hard work and determination behind him.”