Tests have revealed injured rider Katelyn Mallyon has a broken T6 vertebra and facial fractures after a fall at Flemington and is likely to need surgery.
The leading Melbourne apprentice also has a major concussion after hitting the ground when her mount Deliver The Dream went down in the home straight on Saturday.
Mallyon, who was able to talk and move all her limbs after the fall, was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital where the extent of her injuries was discovered.
After winning a race earlier in the day, Mallyon sent a special message in a television interview to her mentor Michelle Payne who suffered back, rib and facial injuries in a fall last Sunday.
Payne went to the hospital to be with Mallyon who leads this season’s Melbourne apprentices premiership and kept her supporters informed via Twitter.
Deliver the Dream escaped injury in the fall but two other horses were earlier put down after falls in different races amid complaints about the state of the track.
One of those, Sparks Burn, was ridden by Payne’s partner Mark Zahra who escaped with a sore shoulder.
Trainer Danny O’Brien is embroiled in an ongoing stewards’ inquiry over comments he made via social media critical of the Flemington surface.
