Dean Holland’s devastated parents share horror at watching son’s tragic fall live

The parents of jockey Dean Holland have told of pacing their kitchen helplessly as they watched their son’s fatal fall live on TV from their home in South Australia.

Dean Holland’s parents have told of their horror as they watched the leading jockey’s fatal fall live on TV, as his devastated family paid tribute to the “once-in-a-lifetime” person.

Holland’s father, Darren Holland, said he and wife Belinda made a mercy dash to Melbourne after witnessing the tragedy unfold on TV at their South Australian home.

“We were watching it live and it was unbelievable,” Mr Holland told the Herald Sun.

“We were walking around the kitchen screaming and crying. We hopped in the car and drove over to Melbourne.”

Dean Holland with his wife, Lucy, and children, Harley, Luca, Lily and Frankie. Picture: Supplied by family

Holland died in a race fall at Donald. Picture: Getty

Having driven for close to five hours, the Hollands took a call from Victorian Jockeys chief Matthew Hyland, revealing their son had died.

“It has changed our world right around,” Mr Holland said. “Lucy (Dean’s wife) and the children are struggling a fair bit. The kids are young … and don’t really know what’s going on. Everyone’s so upset. It was a sleepless night. Nobody got any sleep.”

Mr Holland said he didn’t lay blame.

“It was just a one-off, we can’t really do much about it,” he said of the workplace accident. “It’s just one of those things.”

Holland leaves behind wife Lucy and their four children. Picture: Facebook

Holland’s father Darren, a former jockey himself, says the family ‘live for racing’.

In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, partner Lucy Clampin and Holland’s parents said: “Grief is completely overwhelming us after losing our beloved Dean. We are aware of thousands who are sharing our pain as we come to the reality we have lost a once-in-a-lifetime person, a much loved partner, an amazing father of four beautiful young children in Harley, Luca, Frankie and Lily, as well as a special brother and a wonderful son.

“The outpouring of love for Dean and the care and support for us is helping us deal with our loss.

“We are thinking of Dean’s colleagues, in the jockeys’ room, as well as all in our industry, that he loved so much.”

Riding in a 1000m three-year-old maiden plate on Monday, Holland, 34, was thrown to the ground when mount Headingley veered into the rails at Donald, 280km northwest of Melbourne.

He died at the scene.

Paying tribute to his son, Mr Holland said he was “very proud”, adding: “He was dearly loved by everyone. He was a very loving and doting father, he would do anything for his kids. He lived for them every day of his life. When he got a day off he would always take them to the park.”

Darren and Belinda Holland, with newborn Dean and his sister Kirstie.

Mr Hyland said: “Dean was a very popular guy within the industry. It has been terrible, it has hit the group hard. They are all very close and the group is struggling. It is extremely raw.”

He said the association was in “support mode” with its jockeys assistance program.

“You can’t comprehend the impact this has had, everyone is in absolute shock,” he said. “Many of the jockeys have young families, they go to work to do a job. No one expects this to happen.”

Mr Hyland delivered the news to partner Lucy at her Caroline Springs home on Monday.

“She was naturally distraught,” he said.

The riding group gathered for a quiet drink on Tuesday to mourn their colleague, after races at Flemington and Moe were cancelled.

Holland’s father, a former jockey, said his son fell in love with horse racing when he started riding ponies at about the age of 13.

He quickly progressed into becoming a jockey at 16.

“Dean loved it, he fell in love with racing as a teenager,” Mr Holland said.

“I am proud, very much so, he did a lot more than I ever did as a jockey. Racing is our life, we live for racing.”

Holland’s first race was in South Australia in December 2005 before he piloted his first winner at Ceduna in January 2006.

He went on to notch up more than 1075 career wins.

Among them were the 2015 and 2019 Adelaide Cups, the 2015 Mornington Cup, the 2021 Geelong Cup and the 2022 Wodonga Cup.

After being called up at the last minute when Jamie Kah was rushed to hospital due to a fall, Holland achieved the biggest moment of his career, winning the Newmarket Handicap on March 11.

Former jockey Tony Ottobre started a GoFundMe page for the family, which had raised more than $593,000 by Tuesday evening.

Racing was set to resume on Wednesday in Ballarat.

Originally published as Dean Holland’s devastated parents share horror at watching son’s tragic fall live