Montana Philpot Sunshine Coast racing fall: Rising star faces long recovery

Rising apprentice jockey Montana Philpot has suffered a major injury scare of her own following the death of her mother from a trackwork incident in 2017.

A “freak accident” has left a future star of racing whose mum passed away after a trackwork fall facing a six-month stint on the sidelines.

Sunshine Coast apprentice jockey Montana Philpot will remain out of action for up to six months after a nasty post race fall at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, April 24.

The 22-year-old hoop suffered two broken collarbones, a broken rib on the left side of her neck and four breaks in her pelvis.

The incident came as a major shock to many in the racing industry after Montana’s mother, Donna, passed away in 2017 following a trackwork fall at Bendigo.

Ms Philpot, 22, had been riding Damien Batters-trained Blue Pacfic in race six at Corbould Park late last month when disaster struck after attempting to ease up after the winning post.

“It was a freak accident and no one was at fault,” she told the Sunshine Coast Daily.

“We finished the race and he had taken a while to pull up because he is a strong horse and very well behaved but I had taken him to the outside to pull up and he just slipped over and lost his footing.

“He fell on his bum and then at some point he got his foot stuck underneath the fence and it all happened really quickly so I was lucky to land in a recovery position so that the main structures of my body took the brunt of it all.”

Apprentice jockey Montana Philpot remains in good spirits in hospital. Picture: Supplied.

Philpot was rushed to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital before being later transferred to the Nambour General Hospital.

“I’m now being transferred again to Brisbane on Friday to have surgery on one, if not both of my collarbones,” she said.

“The paperwork in front of me says I’ll be out for four to six months so I’m hoping that’s the case and it won’t be any longer but with surgery being thrown in as well it’s a matter of starting physio and going back through the process of riding again, getting fit and building back that strength.”

Philpot said it was a ‘rollercoaster’ day after she had ridden her first winner for leading trainer Stuart Kendrick on Rose Of Duporth in race five.

“I think that day was a good example of the highs and lows of racing all in the one hit,” she said.

“I was very excited after I had won on Stuart's horse as that was my first winner for his stable so there was a lot of excitement and happy feelings there and then obviously I had the accident which was a bugger and definitely not how I saw the day ending.”

Montana described Sunday’s events as ‘the highs and lows of racing’.

After only returning to race riding in September, 2021, Philpot said it was another setback in her early race riding career.

“This was definitely my biggest scare but I broke my knee and damaged some ligaments just before I started race riding and then I was only racing for two months before I broke my ankle at another freak accident,” she said.

“I returned in September so it’s taken a while to get back into it all but I was really on a roll at the moment and was really happy with how often I was riding and things moving forward.”

Philpot was thankful for the support she had received and trainer Damien Batters said he hoped to see her back on her feet in the coming months.

“It was no one’s fault and Montana has been in good form so it was tough to see and everyone is wishing her the quickest and safest recovery possible,” he said.