New Year brings ill luck for jockeys

This picture has been used for representational purposes

The New Year's very first Sunday brought in sad news for the Indian racing fraternity. In three separate incidents spaced two days apart at three different racing centers, one talented young apprentice rider, Jitendra Singh, lost his life; another promising youngster, Yash Narredu, broke his collarbone; and yet another experienced rider, Irvan Singh, landed in the intensive care unit of a hospital. All three were victims of racetrack falls during live racing.

First fall

It began in Chennai on the first day of the new year. In the sixth race of the card, a horse named Chaitanya stumbled when racing in mid-bunch, bringing down his rider Irvan Singh. Racing alongside Chaitanya was Royal Commander, ridden by ace Indian rider P Trevor. Royal Commander reacted sharply after watching the accident, abruptly shying away from the falling horse and jockey, throwing P Trevor off the saddle. While Irvan is presently recuperating in the intensive care unit of a Chennai hospital, Trevor, who could be seen holding onto the reins despite being unseated, luckily escaped unhurt after hitting the ground.

Shocker Sunday

The more serious of the two Sunday incidents involved a tragic accident at the Malakpet racetrack of Hyderabad which proved fatal for jockey Jitendra Singh. In the 4th race of the Sunday card, the 24-year-old had a fall from Gold Label trained by K Satheesh. Unfortunately for the young lad, in a fraction of a second, four of the five horses racing right behind him couldn't avoid contact with his body. The rider of the fifth horse, another apprentice named Md Ismail astride Whiskery, also came off the saddle, but at the back of the field. It is reported that Jitendra Singh died due to cardiac arrest after going through the shocking and traumatic accident.

Yash Narredu, who had a fall in the feature race of the Pune Sunday card, the Gool & Soli Poonawalla Indian 1000 Guineas (Gr 1), was racing a detached last; but his own mount, Noble Queen trained by his brother Deepesh Narredu, had a contact with him after the fall, causing a fracture in the collarbone.

"Yash will be operated on Tuesday at Jehangir hospital by Dr Nilesh Kamat," Yash's father, trainer Malesh Narredu, told mid-day from Pune.