Jockeys Blake Spriggs and Beany Panya remain in serious conditions after shocking fall

Jockeys Blake Spriggs and Beany Panya were both injured in a raceday fall at Moruya on Friday.

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UPDATED: Jockey Blake Spriggs remains in a serious condition while Beany Panya may require spinal surgery following an ugly fall at Moruya on Friday afternoon.

Racing NSW provided updates on the jockeys on Saturday morning after both came down in the same incident and were airlifted to Canberra Hospital.

Spriggs was reported to have suffered chest and abdominal injuries that will require surgery with fractures to his ribs and clavicle.

He had to be intubated and was sedated.

Spriggs will be closely monitored over the next 24 hours.

His brother Dustin updated his condition on Saturday afternoon.

“We’ve had some positive news with Blake. He came out of an induced coma this morning,” he said on X.

“He was responsive, knew who all his loved ones were and is fighting hard.

“He has a lot of internal bleeding from a punctured lung, which they’re getting on top of.

“He is still heavily sedated whilst they are working on broken ribs and collarbone.

“A lot of work to go but we are over the moon about news the last 12 hours as he was in a bad way when he arrived at the hospital.”

Panya has injuries to her head and thoracic spine with her T6 and T7 impacted.

Beany has a thoracic spine fracture which may need surgery, but we are awaiting advice from the neurosurgeon. She also has a head injury which at this stage does not need surgery. She is in ICU and will continue to be monitored closely over the next 24 hours.

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) January 17, 2025

Panya’s sister Deanne provided an update on her Facebook page late on Friday night.

“Beany woke up and recognised her partner and fellow jockey and friend Robyn Freeman by her side,” she said.

“Although she doesn’t remember the fall she asked a few questions about the event and had a little chat.

“She has fractured her T6 & T7.”

Racing NSW provided a further update on Saturday afternoon.

“Beany is still drowsy but she’s not showing any obvious neurological deficits at this stage, and she’s able to move her limbs.

“Neurosurgeons are still assessing whether she requires surgical fixation of her spine. At this stage, no other orthopaedic injuries have been noted.”

The fall occurred around the 400m mark when the field swung for home and Panya and Spriggs hit the turf.

Spriggs’ mount Blesstas appeared to clip the heels of the leader and took a tumble.

As a result, Panya’s mount The Boomerang, which was racing on the outside of Blesstas, became unbalanced and also fell.

The remaining two races on Moruya’s eight race card were abandoned.

- Additional reporting from Jett Hatton

Originally published as Jockeys Blake Spriggs and Beany Panya remain in serious conditions after shocking fall