Following the posting of a story earlier this week, in which jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor detailed how he went to the rescue of a fellow rider who was in strife mid-race,.much of the reader feedback since then has focussed on readers wanting to know what Georgina Cartwright, the jockey Wilson-Taylor diverted his mount to assist, thoughts are on the subject.
Replay 📺 👇
Cartwright was asked for her response … and she was happy to oblige with the following account of what took place in that race at the Sunshine Coast last Sunday.
“When the horse blundered, I fell on his neck and that helped me stay up,” began Cartwright. “I lost both of my irons. I managed to get one back, but I couldn’t quite get my other iron back.
“At that point I was still in amongst the field. Obviously, I didn’t want to be in amongst them and out of control, so then I had to try and work my way towards the outside.
“Thankfully, my horse didn’t want to charge through them, because I didn’t have much control.
“Then, we came to the 500m, and I was just trying to stay out of everybody’s way. I called out a few times, just letting everybody know I was in a bit of trouble and that they should stay out of my way.
“I was surprised when Kyle came up alongside me. He came up next to me and just said, ‘I’ve got it’.
“My loose iron just kept getting caught behind the saddle and he helped pull the iron forward, so I was able to grab it.
“I said to Kyle when we pulled up that he could have just saved my life.
“When the incident first happened, we were not going quite as quick because it happened fairly soon after jumping out of the barriers, but if you fall off at the speed we ended up going … well, thankfully, we will never know now what would have happened … but, up until then, the whole time I had been trying unsuccessfully to get my iron back.
“I was really unbalanced and in a very precarious position … until Kyle saved the day.
“Kyle did a great job saving me. I think because I was in front of him for quite a while he had time to work it out that he was in a position to help me … and he did that.
“Safety is paramount. That is what has been driven into us since the day we started riding.
“Kyle was brilliant … he was quite amazing actually … and I’ll be forever thankful.”
