Jockeys forced to swerve out the way of oncoming ambulance in ‘terrifying near miss’

Racegoers in Louisiana very nearly witnessed disaster strike as a moving ambulance came perilously close to ploughing into several onrushing horses at the weekend.

The incident in question played out during the eighth race on an action-packed day at Evangeline Downs on Saturday, with eight horses battling it out for the main prize.

Explosive Legend took an early lead as the pack approached the first corner – and it was at this moment that the emergency service vehicle came into view on the television broadcast.

On first glance, the commentator appeared oblivious to the potential catastrophe that had almost unfolded in front of his eyes just over a furlong into the race.

Fortunately, though, all eight jockeys were alert to the danger and managed to dodge out of the ambulance’s path, to the extent that no injuries – to either the riders or the horses – were reported.

‘The stewards are looking at this race with a little incident on the turn there, with an ambulance out of position,’ the commentator later said as he watched back replays of the scary near miss.

It was later confirmed by the stewards race that the race would have to be voided and an official statement admitted that the ambulance driver had somehow found themselves in ‘wrong position on the track’.

Videos of the incident have spread like wildfire within the horse-racing community and beyond, with spectators left open-mouthed at the chaos that was somehow averted on the one-mile oval track in St Landry Parish, Louisiana.

‘This might be the most terrifying near-miss I have ever seen in a horse race,’ Irish racing analyst Kevin Blake wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.”

Meanwhile, legendary Puerto Rican jockey John Velazquez described the footage as both frightening and ‘unbelievable’.

‘Has to be one of the most mental things I’ve seen on a racecourse, ambulance keen on the rail, crazy,’ one social media user replied.

Another responded: ‘Wow. This gets worse with each watch. Four or five horses and jockeys avoided a catastrophe there. Unacceptable that.’

Just last month, British National Hunt jockey Felix De Giles sustained horrendous leg injuries in a heavy fall at Auteuil, the French equivalent of Cheltenham.

‘The arm doesn’t feel too bad, but the legs are pretty swollen,’ De Giles later told The Telegraph.

‘Unfortunately, I was conscious throughout. I saw my right leg was snapped but I have no idea how I managed to break both.

‘They did all the repairs in one operation, the arm, both legs and put the hip back.’

A month earlier, jockeys Jim Crowley and Trevor Whelan were both hospitalised in the aftermath of a sickening accident in York.

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