Just a week ago on Sunday 5 December, an ecstatic Lyle Hewitson teamed up with Douglas Whyte to register the first victory of his second Hong Kong stint aboard Valiant Elegance at Sha Tin.
On Sunday 12 December, he is in a Hong Kong hospital with a fractured hip, but very lucky to be alive.
Lyle Hewitson – family and fans relieved (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Lyle was one of a quartet of jockeys that came down, when his mount Amazing Star was involved in an horrific fall just before the field entered the home straight in the HK$24 million Gr1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint.
Mauritian star Karis Teetan was the only member of the foursome to continue with his rides.
Australian Zac Purton and Japanese veteran Yuichi Fukunaga were also taken to hospital, but no news is yet known of their condition.
We have not yet been able to determine the fate of the horses that were involved in the accident.
Lyle’s Mom Samantha told the Sporting Post that Lyle’s partner Hannah is with him at the hospital. Samantha confirms that her son will stay in ICU for observation overnight as he also has small spots of bleeding on the brain. He doesn’t recall what happened but feels very sad for the horses and the others that fell.
A three-time SA champion jockey, Hewitson’s accident will be a serious setback to his bid to prove to the Hong Kong public that he is so much better than his first campaign in Hong Kong in 2019, that produced only 3 winners from 251 rides.
But that is really academic now for his family and legion of fans, who will be thankful and relieved to hear that their favourite jockey has escaped relatively lightly with a fractured hip.
Lyle is likely to be out of action for eight weeks.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
