Jockey regains consciousness after horror fall

A horse died and a jockey was knocked unconscious in a horror incident in the last race at Avondale yesterday.

In an incident echoing the Sydney Cup this month, stewards sent an alert out to jockeys to pull up their mounts up before they reached the home straight as a stricken horse and injured rider were lying near the winning post.

The injured jockey, apprentice Zy Nor Azman, had been dislodged from his horse and then trampled on by another horse.

‘‘He was probably unconscious for about four minutes, but the good news is he is talking to medical staff in hospital,’’ racing steward Alan Coles said.

Nor Azman, 28, was undergoing head and neck scans, Coles said.

Fellow jockey Brendan Hutton, who fell from the horse Dylan De Lago, walked away from the incident, but had also gone to hospital because of a sore neck.

Dylan De Lago and Nor Azman’s mount, Le Moussier, had raced to the lead early in the race, but Dylan De Lago started to stagger and collided with Le Moussier, who ducked out, dislodging Nor Azman.

The jockey was then hit by ‘‘one if not more’’ following runners, Coles said. The horse had appeared to suffer a massive haemorrhage during the race..

Under recent protocols, stipendiary stewards are able to call a non-race immediately. They instructed patrolling officials to alert the jockeys to stop. The clerk of the course had also waved the jockeys down, Coles said.

The jockeys were pulling up their mounts as they rounded the home turn. The race was declared abandoned.

In the Sydney Cup earlier this month, a similar incident occurred but some of the jockeys did not get the message and continued to the finishing post. The race was re-run two weeks later.

Meanwhile, Stephen Marsh’s two-year-old debutante was out of luck yesterday, but he was still able to derive a good deal of satisfaction from the race’s outcome.

The Cambridge trainer’s representative Screaming Mimi was unplaced in the Avondale Sunday Markets Fillies’ Classic, which was taken out in impressive frontrunning style by So Far Sokool.

The runaway winner had made her first appearance from Peter and Dawn Williams’ stable earlier this month at Pukekohe where she was soundly beaten by Marsh’s Ardrossan.

‘‘We thought she would go close first-up, but she ran into one better – I’m glad he’s going to Australia,’’ Peter Williams said.

Ardrossan will now make his farewell performance in the Listed Hamilton Vets Equine Stakes at Te Rapa on May 6, after which he will join Mick Price’s Caulfield operation.

Plans for So Far Sokool are uncertain with Williams preferring to see how his daughter of Showcasing progresses in the next few days before setting anything in stone.

Out of the Group III-winning mare Sokool, she was quickly into stride and travelled comfortably to the turn under rider Mark Du Plessis. When the favourite Piper issued a challenge into the straight it was answered emphatically by So Far Sokool, who dashed clear to win by 4-1/2 lengths.