- Jason Collett and his horse suffered a horror fall
- The jockey has since been praised for his actions
- Collett ran to the aid of the horse who was in some distress
Heroic jockey Jason Collett has been praised for his bravery and compassion after he and his horse suffered a horrific fall at Sydney‘s Royal Randwick Racecourse over the weekend.
Collett, 33, has also lifted the lid on what first went through his mind after the shock fall, with the jockey being seen immediately rushing to the aid of his horse Think About It after seeing the six-year-old geldling in some distress on the floor.
The incident had taken place while Think About It was rounding for home in the $2m Sydney Stakes on Saturday, with the Joseph Pride-trained horse worryingly collapsing.
The horse is understood to have suffered a pulmonary Haemorrhage during the race and appeared in some distress lying prone on the racetrack.
Collett had injured his shoulder in the fall but his first thought was the welfare and health of his horse, with the rider being seen running around to hold the horses’ head and stop the animal from getting back to it’s feet.
And opening up on the incident, Collett has now revealed his immediate reaction following the horror fall.
‘I turned to the horse and feared he had done something to his leg, so I went to hold him down,’ Collett said.
‘If a horse tries to run around on three legs, it’s not good at all.
‘As I got closer, blood was pouring out of his nose. I knew there had been a haemorrhage, so I raced around to his head and held him down.
‘I didn’t think he had long left.
Heroic Jockey jason Collett has been praised for his bravery and compassion after his horse fell on the track at Sydney’s Randwick racecourse last weekend
Collett was thrown from his horse mid-race but ran back to care for the flailing animal
Collett had raced round to Think About It and proceeded to comfort the horse and prevent him from getting back to his feet
‘Horses don’t generally survive that. I don’t know what allowed Think About It to survive this. I’m glad he did.’
After several moments on the track, Think About It rose back to his feet and walked back to his box, where the six-year-old was seen by a vet.
Following the vet’s diagnosis, Pride had made the immediate decision to retire the horse from racing.
Fortunately, the horse is expected to make a full recovery after the incident, with his trainer, Pride, admitting that he was fearing the worst.
‘I have seen horses come down like that before, and they don’t get back up, unfortunately,’ veteran trainer Pride said.
Think About It had suffered a bleeding attack, but ended up making a ‘miraculous’ recovery
Jockey Jason Collett has been praised for his bravery after his mount crashed to the turf at the Sydney Stakes at Randwick last Saturday
‘I walked down the straight. It was about 400m metres up – just a slow painful walk, by myself. I was fearing the worst,’ Pride said.
‘But then I saw his head pop up above the screen. It was amazing. I just thought ‘Aahh, what a relief’.
‘I still didn’t know what was wrong with him but just the fact he was up on his feet was such a relief. The difference between him not leaving Randwick Racecourse, and him retiring a happy and sound horse, well, it was just a big relief.’
More to follow…
