A jockey has been praised after he rushed over to check on his distressed horse which had collapsed with a serious injury in the middle of a race.
Champion racehorse Think About It, which won one of Australia’s most prestigious races last year called The Everest, suffered a pulmonary hemorrhage at Sydney’s Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Jockey Jason Collett, who was on board Think About It, was at the back of the field when he was violently thrown to the ground.
But after getting to his feet, Collett swiftly moved to check on the stricken horse and was seen gently touching the animal’s face.
A screen was brought to the track to block the distressing scene, with Think About It’s trainer, Joe Pride, admitting that he expected to ‘see the worst’.
However, Think About It miraculously got to his feet and was able to walk off the track.
‘Think About It has walked off the track and into his box and had a good drink,’ broadcaster Bruce McAvaney said after the race.
‘We think he’s okay. That is quite remarkable, that’s the best news we’ve had, at this stage that’s a bit of a miracle.’
Collett said after Think About It’s collapse on track: ‘I’m okay and amazingly the horse has walked back to the stalls.
‘They don’t do that. I thought he’d broken down but he’s bled out.’
John Walter, a racing analyst, praised Collett for his immediate decision to comfort the horse.
‘Graphic footage, love to hear Think About It will be living life like a King from here on out in retirement,’ he wrote on X.
‘But huge respect for Jason Collett in a crazy dangerous situation, trying to comfort the horse without any hesitation.’
Pride also confirmed that six-year-old Think About It, which has won more than $12 million (£6.1m) in prize money, will now be retired from racing.
‘He looks like he normally would after a race,’ Pride said.
‘It’s quite astonishing because of what he has gone through, he went through a massive bleed and basically passed out and rolled.
‘You would have thought he would do a bit more damage but thankfully he is okay.
‘We are definitely going to retire him. Horses bleed and race again but the extent of this bleed was just too much.
‘To be fair to him, he put so much into 2023. He won nine straight and I think he left everything he had on the track with those runs and The Everest last year.
‘He wasn’t quite the same at Rosehill for his last race last spring and hasn’t been the same horse since.
‘There are signs there that he wasn’t the horse he was so we will finish up.’
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