Australian
Horse Racing One Legged Jockey Darrell Chapman
In the
early 1970's Darrell Chapman was being hailed as one
of the best apprentice jockeys to come out of the Northern
Rivers district of New South Wales, having been in the
saddle for just 12 months and already notching up more
than 90 winners.
Fate dealt
him a rather cruel blow in 1973 when he was severely
injured in a motor bike accident when he swerved to
avoid a dog and subsequently lost control and crushed
his left leg. After numerous operations and two years
in rehab using crutches, the decision was finally made
that his left leg could not be saved and it was amputated
below the knee.
Now a logically
thinking person would quickly come to the conclusion
that his riding career would be over but that thought
never crept in to Darrell's mind. He had an artificial
leg fitted and returned to riding track work.
After months
of training rides and unbelievable courage, Chapman
finally trialled before the stewards of the Northern
NSW Racing Association and was again granted a full
jockey's licence.
He resumed
riding in races on November 18, 1979 at the Macleay
River Turf Club's meeting at the Kempsey race course
and his second ride back was on the handy Count Alard,
favourite for the race and trained by his former master
Peter Millard in an Intermediate Handicap over 1400
metres.
He made
no mistakes. Count Alard won handsomely by 4 lengths
to the cheers of the crowd, many of whom had to wipe
away a small tear at the the end of the race.
The immense
courage he showed in simply getting back was not enough
however to stave off every jockeys' nightmare of rising
weight, and despite having some success in the following
12 months, he hung up the riding gear for good about
a year afterwards. When you think of the adversity he
overcame, what more was there to prove?
Darrell
tried his hand at training for a while but sadly ended
up drifting away from the sport.
Last heard
of, he was living in Kempsey area in 2011.
A one legged
jockey? You betcha. And probably the only one in Australia
ever.
(Thanks
to NSW race caller Dick Hilliard for bringing us up
to date in 2011 with this story. Dick said he remembered
the Count Alard race very well! )
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