Gabriell Pieterse’s face battered again in fall at Fairview racecourse

Life couldn’t get much tougher for jockey Gabriell Pieterse. Back riding after plastic surgery reconstruction to his ear and face, the Gauteng-based rider suffered a fractured jaw and broken nose in a fall at Fairview racecourse last Friday.

Pieterse was unshipped from his mount, Maidens Cove, as the field encountered the first bend in the final race at the Gqeberha track.

Many people believe the 2,000m race should have been stopped as the stricken jockey and medical staff could have been trampled as the field ran home.

On Monday, the National Horseracing Authority (NHA) will want a report on the incident from the Fairview stipendiary stewards to discover how the incident was handled.

Pieterse was rushed to hospital but — in the evening — was able to post about the accident on social media. “My thanks to the paramedics — I was drowning in my own blood.”

He added: “I am very thankful my brain is still the same. My nose is broken and will only be fixed next week. I have fractured my jaw and cheek too.”

Pieterse is a motocross rider so will be used to spills when travelling at speed and — with horses travelling at 65km/h — racing is right up there as a dangerous sport.

In April, jockey Dean Holland fell from his horse at Donald racecourse in Australia and died at the scene.

In March, a Victorian racecourse was fined R3.09m after a court case into the death of apprentice Mikaela Claridge in 2019. The club pleaded guilty to the breach of health and safety laws. In 2021, female rider Lorna Brooke died after injuries sustained in a fall at Taunton racecourse in the UK. Another female rider, Megan Taylor, was killed the same year after a fall at Ashburton Raceway in New Zealand.

The tragedy that really brought home the danger of the sport to SA racing fans was the death of Nooresh Juglall in May 2021 after a fall at the island’s Champs De Mars racecourse.

Aged 29 and reigning champion in Mauritius at the time of his death, Juglall passed away in hospital a few hours later.

Reporting on the tragedy, Business Day stated that “racing fans throughout the country were shocked to learn that the popular and talented rider had been killed”.

What the NHA will have to determine is whether new measures need to be introduced countrywide to assist in an accident. In Hong Kong, there are sirens in place at intervals of 300m to alert jockeys and medical staff of an accident.

Pieterse was admitted to the SA Jockeys Academy in 2018. His grandfather had suggested he had the size to succeed as a jockey.

In an early interview, Pieterse said Richard Fourie is his favourite jockey. “He is so dedicated, loves and respects horses so much. He is very caring and goes out of his way to advise, assist and help me and other apprentices.” Fourie rode three winners on the day of his accident.

As a motocross competitor, Pieterse has competed at the highest level and has won two Zambian championships — his parents live in the country — as well as one SA motocross championship in the 65cc and 85cc classes.

Final social media word from the injured jockey. “I am still weak but I am sure to get back to it [racing] soon enough.”