Jockey tries to tackle horse in wild Melbourne Cup day mishap
It's a safe bet that the Melbourne Cup will throw up some drama and it took just one race to unfold at Flemington.
Jockey Luke Nolen had just won Race One on his mount Finance Tycoon when his celebrations took a scary turn.
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Nolen was soaking in his victory atop the horse when he was forced to jump off as it ran towards the fence.
Fortunately, the jockey didn't do any damage as he hit the ground and rolled along the Flemington turf.
Yep, my bad.. 😆 pic.twitter.com/yKd5iLpi2L
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 3, 2020
In an even more bizarre incident that followed, Nolen then attempted to stop Finance Tycoon as it ran towards him moments later.
It looked as if the jockey was shaping up to tackle the horse, before thinking better of it and letting the animal run on.
Meaner step than RTS. Sign him up!!! #NRL #MelbourneCup pic.twitter.com/l7REc1VbBF
— 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀 (@thenrlroast) November 3, 2020
Jockey fine after bizarre incident
Nolen didn't seem to shaken by the strange turn of events after the race after reflecting on Finance Tycoon's run.
“He’s taken really nice improvement from his first run here. He took a lot away from the experience,” Nolen told Racing.com.
“I think he’s got further improvement to come.”
It was a long walk back to the mounting yard but Luke Nolen is still in good spirits after saluting with Finance Tycoon. #Furphy pic.twitter.com/PDqb03oQcT
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 3, 2020
The mishap continued a string of misfortune for the Aussie jockey, who copped a nasty black eye on Friday after being head butted by a horse.
Nolen also just missed out on sealing a Melbourne Cup ride after international prospect Nickajack Cave failed to make the 24-horse cut.
“I’m still asleep from this morning,” Nolen said after he was dumped by Finance Tycoon.
“It hasn’t been my week. I’ve got the three (incidents), everything’s happened to me, hopefully that was the last one and I’m done.”
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