A JOCKEY’S goggles ‘filled with blood’ and he was left looking ‘hideous’ after a freak horseshoe smash.
Poor Jay Ford came within an inch of being blinded after the solid piece of iron flew into his face mid-race.
The 37-year-old rider, who has won just under £30million in his career, feared the worst as his right eye ‘completely closed over’.
But incredibly he is aiming to race again just four days after receiving emergency medical treatment.
TV cameras caught footage of the shoe flying through the air before it crashed into Ford’s face.
The jockey was just making his move on Mohican Nights in a race at Kembla Grange track in Australia on Saturday when he slowed down abruptly.
Ford could be seen lifting his arm to tend to his eye as the rest of the runners thundered on.
The shoe ricocheted off his face and flew some 50ft in the other direction.
Shaken after the impact, Ford told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It stung me and my goggles started filling up with blood.
“The ambulance worker kept asking, ‘are you sure it didn’t knock you out?’
“I was like, ‘it hurt, but it didn’t knock me out’. There was a lot of blood.
“It could be worse, an inch lower and I probably lose my eye. It just swelled right up around it.
“My eye completely closed over on Saturday night, I couldn’t see out of it.
‘IT LOOKS HIDEOUS’
“I iced it, and it’s gradually starting to come down. It looks hideous, but it doesn’t hurt now.
“I must have a hard head. I’m not the sort of person to lie down, I just carry on.
“Pending everything being good, I’ll ride on Wednesday.”
It should come as no surprise that hard-as-nails Ford is eager to get right back out there again.
He made headlines a few years ago for revealing his brutal fasting regime which got him down to just 8st.
A coffee, a cigarette and a piece of fruit was all he would allow himself in between trips to the sauna.
Not that it’s anything new. Nicola Currie recently detailed how she would go a day without food to make weight.
Ford said: “I’ll probably have something small for dinner, it won’t be a great deal. Either a piece of fruit or some steamed veggies, that’s at night.
“In the morning I’ll probably just have a coffee and a cigarette, that’s about it.
“Jockeys do it week in, week out. Obviously you’d like to eat more but you can’t
“I’m still fit and healthy and strong.”
And, fortunately, able to see in both eyes.
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