A horse crashed into a rail and dumped its jockey head-first when looking sure to win a race.
Moro Flyboy had less than a furlong to go in the contest at Lone Star Park, America, when he ducked sharply to his left. The sprinter bounced off the rail and apprentice rider Simon Camacho-Benitez was thrown out of the saddle.
A clip of the high-speed crash, viewed almost 400,000 times on social media, shows momentum taking the sportsman in front of the thoroughbred. He then collides with the plastic rail and flips head-first before somehow landing on his feet.
The other runners were able to avoid him as the loose horse crossed the winning line riderless. Thankfully he escaped serious injury, as did the horse, who held a lead of around ten lengths at the time.
“He’s all right,” the jockey's agent Bradley White told DRF. “He had to go get a concussion test before he can be back."
This week marks one year since Camacho-Benitez rode his first winner in a thoroughbred race.
"Inside the furlong pole, he might lead it by double digits!" the commentator exclaimed as Moro Flyboy raced clear. But then disaster struck, as the pair were denied what was going to be an impressive triumph.
Heavenly Trump, the 5-2 second favourite, was finishing well at the time and inherited victory in the $7,500 maiden claiming sprint for three-year-olds. It was his tenth career start, while Moro Flyboy had much less experience.
The stewards stood Camacho-Benitez down for the rest of his mounts on the card, while there was also an enquiry post-race. There was a late non-runner and the horses were re-loaded into the stalls, however Witt And Whiskey bungled the start and gave his backers no chance.
It appears the 14-1 shot was declared a runner but he failed to complete the event. Moro Flyboy had been sent off at 9-2 in the betting with his 5lb claiming rider taking the mount for the contest run on dirt.
