Three jockeys were hospitalized and two horses euthanized due to injuries suffered on the track after an accident at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
During the race, jockey Lyle Hewitson’s horse, Amazing Star, lost its footing and fell. This triggered a pile-up, with other horses and jockeys hitting the ground as Hewitson and his horse were trampled by the rest of the field. According to TMZ, Hong Kong Jockey Club executive director Andrew Harding said three men were treated at the hospital with multiple injuries.
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All three survived, though Hewitson suffered a fractured hip and small brain bleed. Zac Purton fractured four ribs, a wrist and broke his nose. Yuichi Fukunaga, the third jockey, broke his collarbone. Amazing Star and Naboo Attack, the two horses injured, were euthanized.
Australia’s Blake Shinn won the race, which was the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint, riding Sky Field.
Horses and jockeys hit the ground in an accident during the Longines Hong Kong Sprint AP“I have mixed emotions for winning this race today,” Shinn said, per TMZ. “Obviously my first emotion is that my feelings are with the fallen jockeys and horses out there.
“It’s a real bittersweet win and in a way, it’s a hard win to take in the circumstances.”
