Jockey OK but horse dies
Former champion apprentice Beau Mertens narrowly escaped serious injury at Caulfield on Sunday when his mount crashed to the ground in the closing stages of the Davies Handicap in Melbourne.
Mertens, who was aboard laststart winner Orient Line, was angling for a run inside the final 200m when his mount clipped the heels of the horse in front, resulting in a nasty fall.
Grave concerns were held for Mertens, who has become one of Australia’s most successful young jockeys in recent years. However, the 20-year-old complained only of knee soreness.
Sadly, the injuries Orient Line received in the incident meant that veterinary surgeons had to euthanise the horse. Orient Line was a winning chance prior to the fall.
Those who spoke to Mertens after the incident reported that it was only his left knee that was of any concern.
‘‘He is conscious and complaining mostly of a sore knee. He’ll be taken to hospital to be checked right out,’’ a Melbourne Racing Club spokesman said.
The incident was particularly nasty as it was so close to the viewing audience at the Caulfield racetrack.
Security officers and officials kept the crowd back, including a number of families.
The winner of the Davies Handicap was the promising Widgee Turf, who registered his third straight metropolitan success.
● Meanwhile a jockey has escaped serious injury after a terrifying fall in the first race at Greymouth on Sunday.
Apprentice Brett Murray was riding four-year-old gelding Dale in the first race when things quickly got out of control.
Dale bounded out of the gates, collided with two other horse before tearing off into the lead. He then failed to take the first bend, careening towards the outside running rail before jumping over it sideways.
Murray was dislodged in the fall, but was quickly attended to by the on-course paramedics and transported to Greymouth Hospital for observation, the stewards’ report said.
It was later reported he did not sustain serious injuries.
Racecaller Tom Wood wrote on Twitter "that looked horrendous", while it also caught the eye of Australian jockeys Dominic Tourneur, Glyn Schofield and Katelyn Mallyon, who all expressed their concern for Murray.
It wasn’t the first time Dale had been tough to ride for a jockey, with his name appearing in the stewards’ report in five of his seven previous races for racing awkwardly.
He had already dropped Murray on the way to the barriers, but was caught and declared fit to run.
The stewards informed his trainer, Paul Harris, that he would have to go through numerous barrier trials to return to racing, to which Harris advised them the horse had been retired.
It wasn’t the end of the drama in the race, with the rider of second-place getter Danielle Hirini failed to weigh in on Prized Pins, which was disqualified.
Hirini was suspended from January 13, up to and including February 10.