Stuart Randolph described the moment he realised the terrible fall he was involved in at Scottsville on Sunday was happening.
Fortunately, both he and Lyle Hewitson escaped with soft tissue damage and both expect to be back in the saddle soon, as does S’Manga Khumalo, who was stood down injured in the Turffontein meeting on Saturday.
Stuart Randolph (Nkosi Hlophe)
Randolph said, “Although it happens so quickly in real time, those moments seem to unfold in slow motion. You have to accept what is happening and relax yourself because if you try and fight it you tense up and that is when you get injured. I saw Lyle in front of me and knew I had to go sideways to avoid him but the horse carried on going straight. Falling was inevitable so I had to accept it and when I felt myself being flung sideways out of the saddle I didn’t try and prevent it. I then had to accept I was going to hit the ground and closed my eyes and relaxed. I feel surprisingly good this morning. It is usually the next morning that you feel as if a bus has hit you. But today I feel just a bit stiff. We were fortunate as it could have been a lot worse. But it was tremendously sad the two horses had to be euthanized. That is the part of racing I have always hated.”
The incident happened in a 1000m sprint handicap.
Hewitson was in the front on Gratuity and Randolph was tracking him aboard Pathway To Glory when the former suddenly broke down leaving the 400m mark.
Hewitson was thrown to the ground and somehow avoided being hit by Pathway To Glory who had attempted to leap over Gratuity but had made contact. Hewitson then also avoided being hit by Gratuity as he rolled underneath the horse as it rolled over in the air.
Meanwhile, Randolph was airborne above the melee and appeared to land heavily on both his hip and shoulder. He said the collar bone would likely have been damaged had he not relaxed himself and another thought that had gone through his mind was his hip, which had been capped with ceramic material in an operation a couple of years ago.
However, all was fine according to the doctor’s examination and there was just soft tissue damage to the muscle between the neck and the shoulder. The stiffness he had on Sunday night in this area had already improved by yesterday morning and he was able to move his neck freely again. However, he has been told to report back to the doctor at the first sign of any pins and needles or any other unusual symptoms.
He said he would be workriding again today (Tuesday) although cautiously.
Reigning national champion jockey Hewitson’s prognosis was a knee sprain and some soft tissue damage. He said yesterday to Turftalk’s Charl Pretorious, “I am feeling a bit better than yesterday. I’m just applying ice and doing as much compression as I can. I don’t expect to be out for long.” It was Hewitson’s second meeting back from an eight week layoff which damaged his other knee in a fall at Fairview in July. He is flying to Singapore later this week with Muzi Yeni and Aldo Domeyer to compete in the PGI Jockeys Challenge, presented by Phumelela Gaming & Leisure and Tabcorp, which will be hosted by the Singapore Turf Club at Kranji on 25 September.
Meanwhile, Khumalo was diagnosed with bruising after banging his knee on a starting stall gate on Saturday, which forced him to be stood down. He is applying ice and taking anti-inflammatories and hopes to be back in action at the Highveld’s Saturday meeting.
By David Thiselton
