Jockey’s Tom Cruise-esque ‘death-defying stunt’ leaves punters speechless
A JOCKEY in the US performed his own Mission Impossible stunt by defying gravity in quite remarkable fashion.
Abel Lezcano was rounding the first bend on Christmas Present at Hawthorne in Chicago when disaster struck and his right stirrup broke.
Abel Lezcano (right) clings to Christmas Present
Ordinarily that would leave a jockey with no way to stay on at race speed, but Lezcano had other ideas.
He disappeared from view but when the camera angle changed, he was somehow still clinging to his mount.
It looked like only a matter of time before he hit the deck but astonishingly, Lezcano managed to shimmy his way back into the saddle.
A truly astonishing feat of strength and athleticism, Lezcano might be asked for a cameo in the final Mission Impossible film.
Lezcano said on Twitter: “Thank God I’m only sore but glad I didn’t fall or hurt anybody. By the grace of the lord I’m here and I will continue working hard.”
Punters could not believe what they’d witnessed, with one saying: “You want pure athleticism, this is it right here!”
Another said: “Tom Cruise is going to make a horse racing movie now just so he can perform this death-defying stunt himself.”
While one more added: “I’ve seen a lot of things over the years. This is just amazing.”
Lezcano has been riding since 2003 and has racked up 448 winners in his career to date.
He won a Grade 2 back in 2016 on Nancy From Nairobi and his total earnings are in excess of £11million.
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