As Mark Zahra and Observer win the derby, Tom Prebble opens up on his life-changing fall
He said he still wants to continue playing the sport that has given his family so much over the years.
Her mother was a successful jockey in her own right and her aunt, Michelle Payne, won the Melbourne Cup aboard Prince Of Penzance 10 years ago.
“It’s like coming today, I’d still love to be a part of it,” he said.
“There are horses I love, there are trainers I love cheering for, so I would love to be a part of the industry, that’s for sure.
“But right now I’m not home yet and I’m probably taking everything day by day… I’m not even thinking about next week to be honest.”
Prebble said he was still receiving treatment at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Center after having surgery on his spine at the Alfred hospital following the devastating fall.
“I’ll be there until the end of the month and then [I’ll] “I hope to move back home to my mother’s house, where it will be modified to make it suitable for me to live in, and from then on I hope to regain my independence,” he said.
Mark Zahra won the VRC Derby aboard the Godolphin colt Observer.Credit: Getty Images
“If there’s a rehab that would make me a little more excited, I’d love to do that. Honestly, I’d fly anywhere, do anything, to get half my body back. But yeah, hopefully I get that.”
“I still have some hope in me, I hope I can recover, but unfortunately that is diminishing day by day.”
Prebble was apprenticed to the training partnership of her mother’s brother and sister, Patrick and Michelle Payne, and was starting to make her mark in the equestrian ranks, riding a triple at Flemington in June and then winning the rising star series for Victorian apprentices in July.
Zahra’s Derby Day is out
Race 4: Group 2 $300,000 Wakeful Stakes – $1.60 Getta Good Feeling (trainer: Danny O’Brien)
Race 5: Group 2 $500,000 Damien Oliver – $5 Warnie (trainer: Ciaron Maher)
Race 6: Group 1 $2 million Coolmore Stud Stakes – $2.90 Tentyris (trainers: Anthony and Sam Freedman)
Race 7: Group 1 $2 million VRC Derby – $2.30 Observer (trainer: Ciaron Maher)
Prebble crashed during the final race at the Warrnambool Racecourse meeting on 9 September and was flown to Melbourne. T5 is the fifth thoracic vertebra located between the shoulder blades and helps protect the spinal cord.
His father Brett, who won the 2021 Caulfield Cup on Incentivize and the 2012 Melbourne Cup on Green Moon, praised his son’s determination, commitment and “the way he goes about it”.
“She emotionally touches the hearts of everyone who meets her,” Brett said.
Zahra put on a racing masterclass at Flemington, winning four races in a row including the group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Tentyris and the group 1 VRC Derby at Observer.
Both foals are by Godolphin. Tentyris is co-trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, while Ciaron Maher trains Observer.
With superstar basketball player James McDonald in Sydney today, Zahra continued her lead in Melbourne. “He’s riding the crest of a wave,” Maher said. “Nobody rides better.”
More to come
