Beloved Victorian jockey Laura Lafferty is out of her induced coma following a nasty fall at Ballarat on Thursday (yesterday).
Lafferty was riding the $201 outsider The Praised One and was leading the race when she fell at the 800m mark of the 1400m maiden.
She was conscious after the fall and was airlifted to a Melbourne hospital, where she was placed in an induced coma.
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VJA boss Matt Hyland provided an update on Friday morning, and said Lafferty was still in ICU but doctors had reduced her sedation.
Hyland told RSN that he had spoken to Lafferty’s father and he confirmed that his daughter had a punctured lung and had injuries to her spleen and liver.
“She will undergo more tests and scans today but the good news is they brought her out of that coma through the middle of the night,” Hyland said.
Hyland said “generally it was pretty good news” when doctors made the decision “to wake them up (from the induced coma) that quickly”.
But he said it was still unclear if Lafferty — a winner of 162 races — would require a surgery.
Racing broadcaster Michael Felgate said it was “a shocking fall … and a lot of the reports initially were fairly scary and unnerving.”
He said it was undoubtedly a positive that the doctors had brought her out of sedation.
“Fingers are crossed and thoughts with Laura’s family as well,” Felgate said.
“I know down in that Warrnambool region they are a famous racing family and everyone will be extremely concerned and hopeful she can make a full recovery as soon as possible.”
Lafferty has had rotten luck throughout her career.
In 2021 she fell in a race at Swan Hill and suffered ligament damage, concussion and bone bruising.
In 2022 Lafferty more concerning injuries — including another concussion and whiplash — when her mount had a medical episode.
After Thursday’s fall at Ballarat Racing Victoria said The Praised One “shied before the fall”.
The horse was uninjured but an inquiry will be opened.
