Horse Racing Fantasy Community

Thoroughbred racing is fraught with danger. Every single time the gate opens and the horses vault out on their way, a jockey must navigate his 1100 pound athlete under him around turns and through the traffic of the other horses. A jockey must be strong, savvy, possess amazing hand-eye coordination, have an intuitive understanding of time accurate to a 5th of a second, and most of all, understand that in racing, accidents happen. In those accidents, the jockey, his horse, and the other jockeys and horses in the field can also be injured or, in some cases, killed. Have you ever seen the film Seabiscuit? If you have you know that Gary Stevens played Hall-of-Famer George Woolf. What the film doesn't tell you is that, later in his career Woolf was killed in a nasty spill. The fact is that jockeys put their lives on the line every single time they go out there, and only a fierce love of the sport keeps them going! For more insight into the tough circumstances jockeys face, take a look at this remarkable documentary clip I found: