Jockey suing turf club
‘Foreseeable’ plover risk led to fall: claim
A FORMER jockey who suffered a career-ending injury after a fall has taken the Toowoomba Turf Club to court for a claim worth more than $2.3m, arguing its unwillingness to deal with swooping plovers near the racetrack caused her injuries.
Rebecca Susan Williams lodged a suit against the club in the Brisbane Supreme Court in December, relating to an incident on December 10, 2018 at Clifford Park Racecourse where Ms Williams fell from the horse Donkey Kong during track work.
According to the claim, native plovers (also known as masked lapwings) nest near the track and were known to swoop aggressively during their nesting season of September to December.
Ms Williams claimed a number of jockeys had made complaints to the turf club about the plovers, but “no action” was taken to move them from the area.
“There existed a risk of injury to a jockey such as the plaintiff riding track work which was foreseeable, not insignificant and in the circumstances, a reasonable person in the position of the defendant would have taken precautions against,” the document said.
Ms Williams claimed this risk was realised during the incident, where a plover moved on to the track towards Donkey Kong and caused the horse to instinctively duck to its left.
The plaintiff said she was thrown from the horse and suffered a “traumatic brain injury, post-concussion syndrome, adjustment disorder, cervical spine injury (and) concomitant headaches”.
Ms Williams’ statement said the fall ended her career as a jockey.
“Had the defendant undertaken the precautions listed, the plaintiff would not have been injured,” the claim said.
She has claimed $2.371m in damages, relating to costs for rehabilitation, past and future economic loss and future domestic assistance.
The turf club in January submitted a defence against the allegations, which argued no complaints were made by jockeys about nesting plovers.
In the document, filed by Wotton and Kearney Lawyers, the club said Ms William’s alleged injuries were “not supported by the evidence” and that her claim for compensation was “unreasonable, excessive and wholly disproportionate to the nature and extent of the plaintiff’s injuries, loss and damage”.
It also argued its own investigation had been unable to confirm a swooping plover had caused the fall.
Both Ms Williams’ law firm Kennedy Spanner Lawyers and Wotton and Kearney Lawyers’ Shih-Lene Jee were contacted.