Heartbreaking Testimony Reveals Tragic Details of Jockey’s Fatal Fall
A racing track in central western New South Wales became the scene of a devastating tragedy on February 8, 2022, when apprentice jockey Marina Morel suffered fatal injuries after her horse, Lina’s Choice, collapsed near the winning post. The four-year-old bay mare reportedly experienced a catastrophic leg injury, leading to a chain of events that saw Ms. Morel tragically pinned and pulled beneath the panicked animal.
During a coronial inquest into the incident, Ms. Morel’s head trainer, Brett Thompson, provided a harrowing account of the moments leading up to and following the fatal accident. Visibly emotional, Mr. Thompson recounted the sickening sound that preceded the fall.
A Sound of Steel on Steel
“I heard the sound of steel-on-steel,” Mr. Thompson testified, his voice cracking as he described the incident at Lidcombe’s Coroners Court. He explained that this distinct clipping sound, as Lina’s Choice’s horseshoes struck each other, occurred just moments before the mare collapsed and Ms. Morel was thrown.
The impact of the fall was severe. Mr. Thompson described how Ms. Morel “just went straight over the front of the horse, hit the ground really hard and somehow got sucked under” the thrashing animal. The trainer, who owns Brett Thompson Racing, immediately jumped the fence to assist. He witnessed his son, Kurt, pull Ms. Morel from beneath the distressed horse. “Kurt dragged her out and I knew from the time I seen her eyes, she was gone,” he told the court, his grief palpable.
The wait for emergency services was agonizing. It took a critical 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the Gulgong racecourse. Ms. Morel was subsequently airlifted to Sydney’s Westmead Hospital, but tragically, she passed away four days later.
Scrutiny Over Mare’s Fitness to Race
The ongoing inquest is meticulously examining the medical fitness of Lina’s Choice leading up to the accident. The court has previously heard that the mare had returned to training just six months after sustaining a partially ruptured ligament in March 2021. This decision was made despite a veterinarian’s recommendation for a full 12 months of rest in a paddock.
On Thursday, Mr. Thompson defended his decision, stating that he considered the ruptured ligament a minor injury. He insisted that he had observed no outward signs of lameness in Lina’s Choice. He outlined his gradual reintroduction of the mare to work, beginning with a month on the treadmill followed by a trial session in December 2021. He affirmed that attending veterinarians had found no significant health issues during this period. “I was really happy with her,” he stated.
Lina’s Choice subsequently competed in two races in January 2022, at Wellington and Dubbo. Videos of these races were presented to the court. Mr. Thompson noted that during the Dubbo race, Lina’s Choice was jostled by another horse, Black Star Bowie, which led to her being bumped into a second horse. The jockey of Black Star Bowie later pleaded guilty to reckless riding and received a five-day suspension.
Adding another layer to the investigation, the court heard that in the days immediately preceding the fatal incident, an equine chiropractor, Gary Christou, examined Lina’s Choice and identified muscle tightness in her chest.
The inquest is scheduled to continue on Friday, with further testimony expected to shed more light on the circumstances surrounding this deeply tragic event in Australian racing.
