Gary Stevens is a Hall of Fame jockey. (We even did a longform on him last year!) But he cemented his status as one of horse racing’s all-time greats by making the most of a crappy situation: he won a race despite a horse pooping on his face.
Kentucky Derby jockey gets crapped on mid-race, still wins
Football players endure concussions. Basketball players tear their ACL’s. Hockey players lose teeth daily. But only for jockeys is “poop on the face” a workplace hazard.
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Stevens was riding Global View, his first mount of the day, but needed to make up ground late. However, like Donkey Kong with a banana in Mario Kart, a horse in front let something loose to distract Stevens from the task at hand:
(Sadly, we couldn’t find video of the poop. BUT WE’RE LOOKING.)
Kentucky Derby
Despite the defecatory debacle -- or perhaps because of it -- Stevens rode hard and won by a neck at the wire. He’ll ride Candy Boy in the Kentucky Derby later today, and we wouldn’t blame him for trying to get ahead of the pack early.
In other news: who knew horses could poop while running!
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