Jockey's lucky escape as riderless horse gallops to victory

A dramatic start to Caulfield Cup day produced a bizarre twist in just the second race of the day.

Jockey Jamie Mott was on-board Bricktop when he was dislodged straight out of the barriers, and it simply wasn’t enough to stop the rampant colt.

Bricktop surprisingly recovered and got into a quick gallop, surpassing the field to finish first past the post – but it won’t count as a win.

Mott opened up on the experience just after the race, and said it was a lucky outcome given what would normally happen in that situation.

“Not when I land on my feet, normally you’re on the ground and you’ve got to pick yourself up,” Mott said.

“Lucky enough this time I was able to run beside him.”

As Bricktop was rule out of the contest despite crossing the line first, it was Hugh Bowman who took out the race on-board Ranier.

Mott added to his “lucky” assessment of the events that unfolded, and said he even contemplated trying to fling himself back on.

“I just had a man-up because last start he sort of went down under the front,” Mott said.

“He was standing fine when the gates opened he’s knuckled and whether he knuckled or slipped I’m not sure.

“Head went down to the ground and unbalanced me and I got off the side.

“I was actually thinking of trying to swing back up but he got into his gallop pretty quickly and left me.

“Lucky he’s fine and I’m fine as well.”

Fans watching the race took the social media to express their views of the incident, with the underlying message about the health of the jockey and the horse.

The Gothic Stakes was just the second race of the day, in the build-up to the $5 million Caulfield Cup at 4:40pm.