Father's terror after watching jockey fall

The father of trailblazing Bunbury jockey Kyra Yuill has revealed his helplessness at watching his daughter fight for her life on television after a horror horse racing fall.

The gun apprentice, who made history last December when she became the first female jockey to win the Perth Cup, suffered bleeding on the brain and snapped her ankle after being dislodged from her mount during a race at Belmont Park on Saturday.

She was taken to Royal Perth Hospital, where her condition has steadily improved and her neck brace was removed earlier this week.

Kyra’s father Graham Yuill told the South Western Times he and wife Belinda had been stunned watching the race at their Dardanup stables, unsure of what to do as their daughter tumbled to the turf during the Apprentice’s Cup.

‘‘It’s just the most helpless, hollow feeling you could ever get,’’ he said.

‘‘What’s worse, you don’t know what to do first.

‘‘It’s an eternity waiting for the response from people. We were getting phone calls every couple of minutes updating us.

‘‘It’s just that hopelessness — it’s horrible, I don’t envy anyone who has to go through it.’’

The 21-year-old prodigy was was making her run on board the Warwick Bradshaw-trained five-year-old Grandstand when the gelding stumbled coming out of the 400m turn.

Stewards have ordered an inquiry into the incident, which will be held when Yuill is well enough to attend.

Bradshaw reported Grandstand was suffering from general soreness and was lame in his near hind leg on his return to the stalls.

Graham Yuill, who is himself a successful trainer and has a life-long involvement in the racing industry, described the face-first fall as a jockey’s nightmare.

‘‘The horses’ legs get taken out from underneath them,’’ he said.

‘‘They don’t pre-warn the riders that they’re going to go down, they just fall on their nose,’’ he said.

‘‘The rider can’t prepare for it — one minute you’re upright, the next you’re face-planted.

‘‘They’re the worst falls a jockey can experience.’’

The 2010-11WA champion apprentice, is due to have ankle surgery next week and is likely to be sidelined until November.

Her father said she was on the road to recovery.

‘‘She was back wanting to be a part of the stables again and wanting to know what the horses are up to and generally back to herself,’’ he said.

‘‘One minute you’re flying, the next you’re fighting for your life.’’