Jockey Fighting for Life in Coma as Rival Who Caused Disastrous Fall Handed Ban

24-year-old jockey Bailey Rogerson is in an induced coma and fighting for her life after suffering a horrendous fall.

Rogerson came off Mandolo while riding in race six of a meeting at Arawa Park in New Zealand on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who is a granddaughter of Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Graeme Rogerson, is currently in Waikato Hospital’s intensive care unit.

French rider Corentin Berge, who was riding In A Pickle, has since been suspended for four weeks by race stewards for ‘allowing his mount to dangerously move out and eventually check Rogerson’s horse’.

Earlier on the card, the 24-year-old was riding a horse trained by her mother and secured her 58th career win.

As reported by the New Zealand Herald, Graeme said his granddaughter “has a fracture in her skull”.

Bailey Rogerson is in an induced coma (Credit:YouTube)

"She's in an induced coma, but they are going to try to bring her out of that today,” Graeme said on Monday.

"She has a fracture in her skull, and there might also be a broken bone in her neck region, but they haven’t been able to x-ray her for that yet. But she has movement in her limbs, so that is good news.

“We'll know more today when she is brought out of the coma.

"Obviously, we're all very worried, but she's tough. She rides plenty of horses that often can’t win because she accepts rides that other people don’t want; she just loves riding.

"We've had so many well-wishers, and we hope to have an update for them in the next 24 hours."

There have been several similar incidents in the sport previously, with Irishman Declan Murphy sustaining a fractured skull at Haydock Park in 1994 after his head collided with Arcot’s head before another horse trampled on his skull while he was on the ground.

Despite suffering life-threatening injuries, he returned to the sport the following year.

Ten years earlier, French jockey Philippe Pacquet was thrown off his mount, resulting in a serious fractured skull. He was placed into a coma and remained that way for three months before recovering against all odds.