Recovery will be tough
Trainer father blames witches hat for bad fall
PROMISING apprentice Jasmine Cornish faces an extended period on the sidelines after a sickening fall at Beaudesert last week, but her trainer father believes it could have been avoided.
Greg Cornish, who trains at the track, said his daughter was brought down after a horse got spooked by an errant witches hat, positioned on the track to protect certain parts of the turf.
The apprentice, who sits second behind Angela Jones in the metropolitan title race faces a year on the sidelines after she had surgery on Thursday night to put her spine back together.
“The surgeon rang me to say it was quite successful, they plated both sides of her spine and put a rod in so we will have to wait and see how she goes,” Greg Cornish said.
“She has got a broken back, the C7; it was a delicate operation because they didn’t want to damage the spine.
“She has got feeling in her hands and feet, that is the main thing. She is in a lot of pain of course, they are asking her to get up to get a bit of movement.”
Needing to be flown to hospital following the fall on Tuesday, there were grave fears for Cornish, who fell from her father’s horse Reflecting Image in the eighth trial of the morning. Her father, who was there when the fall occurred, said it could have been avoided.
“It was bad management really, they had the (witches) hats out too far and we warned them they were too far out,” he said.
“Myself and other senior riders expressed our concerns and then a hat got hit. A horse then shied away from that hat and ran out straight in front of Jasmine. It basically got shot in front of her, the horse then took her legs away from the horse she was on, she fell of course and it was almost into the outside fence.”
Queensland stewards will hold an inquiry into the fall, but Gold Coast Turf Club chief executive Steve Lines said the club had reached out to the Cornish family to offer help.
“The track was cleared by the stewards and it was all positive from that side of things,” Lines said. “There is a hearing into the matter, so we will respect that process.
“At the end of the day, it is a horrible thing and it is one of the most challenging things in the industry.”
Cornish, who has continued to race his horses while holding a bedside vigil alongside his daughter says it has been some of the most challenging times of his career.