HALT THE RACING ADDRESS THE PROBLEM

Jockey injured, horse euthanized after 3rd recent Aussie track crash


Jockey Teo Nugent (L) was injured and racehorse Fluorescent Star had to be euthanized after crashing during a race in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday. File Photo by George Salpigtidis/EPA-EFE

March 18 (UPI) -- A racehorse was euthanized and his jockey was hospitalized Saturday after the latest in a series of recent racetrack accidents in Melbourne, Australia.

Jockey Teo Nugent was riding Fluorescent Star at the Moonee Valley racecourse when the thoroughbred appeared to clip another horse, falling to the ground during the sixth race at the Abell Stakes, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Nugent was partially trampled on the track in the melee. Medics rushed to his aid while veterinarians attended to the 5-year-old mare, which fell over a barrier.

The 24-year-old jockey was seemingly unconscious for a few minutes, but was eventually awake and alert before being taken off the course in a stretcher and transported to the hospital.

In a tweet, the Victorian Jockeys Association later said Nugent had a fracture to his C1 vertebrae, a ring-shaped bone beginning at the base of the skull.

"Teo Nugent will be transported to hospital for further examination," a spokesperson for the association told news.com.au. "Teo's conscious and chatting to medical staff. He has movement in his limbs."

Veterinarians were forced to euthanize Fluorescent Star on the track, shortly after the crash.

"We are devastated. We love you Flo," the horse's owners tweeted after the race.

The crash was the third in three weeks in Melbourne.

Jockeys Ethan Brown and Mark Zahra were both thrown from their horses in the same fall earlier this month. Brown required multiple surgeries after sustaining abdominal injuries.

Fellow jockeys Jamie Kah and Craig Williams were both in races at the city's Flemington Racecourse last weekend. Williams suffered multiple broken bones but has been discharged from the hospital. Kah is still recovering from a serious concussion.