A young jockey is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after suffering bleeding on the brain and fractured vertebrae when her horse collapsed and died during a race in Australia.
Ivy Lam, a 23-year-old apprentice from Hong Kong, was riding Jacob’s Gate at Gawler in South Australia on Monday when the horse dropped back through the field and collapsed near the halfway point of the near one-mile race. The horse died, and Lam was thrown to the ground.
She was treated by on-course medics and airlifted to hospital in Adelaide. Racing SA chief executive Vaughn Lynch said Lam had suffered bleeding on the brain and fractured vertebrae but was expected to avoid surgery, with hopes for a full recovery. The final race of the meeting was abandoned.
Lam works for the stable of Gordon Richards and Damien Moyle and has ridden 16 winners from 139 mounts since her first ride in January. A member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s apprentice school, Amy Chan, was flying to Australia to support her.
In a separate incident, jockey Laura Lafferty, who suffered a collapsed lung and injuries to her spleen and liver in a fall at Ballarat in Victoria last week, has been moved out of intensive care into a trauma ward.
