Veteran jockey Micheal Hellyer was headbutted so hard by his horse before a race that it knocked him out and sent him tumbling to the ground. Incredibly, the 37-year-old hoop says he is lucky.

Footage of the incident shows Hellyer being legged onto the back of his mount, Southoftheborder, at Toowoomba on Saturday night before the four-year-old gelding flings its head backwards and makes heavy contact with Hellyer’s face.

The horse then rears, as a knocked-out Hellyer crashes to the ground.

Despite the frightening nature of the incident, the jockey escaped with just a split lip and a concussion. He will be sidelined from riding for 12 days.

“Before I got on the horse, the trainer did warn me that he was a little bit on edge that evening. He just said, ‘look, just watch him, he’s a littl

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