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Being a horse jockey is not an occupation for the faint of heart, as those riders deal with plenty of potential hazards while doing their job. That includes “encountering an ambulance driving the wrong way down the track in the middle of a race,” which was the scary situation that unfolded in Louisiana over the weekend.
Anyone who has the skills required to ride race horses for a living knows a thing or two about controlling an animal that typically weighs around ten times as much as they do, but there’s only so much those jockeys can do to avoid ending up in a perilous position when they mount up.
On average, two jockeys die each year and another 60 are left paralyzed due to the risks that come with being thrown from a horse, and they need to be on high alert during a race to minimize the chances of things going south in the blink of an eye.
All eight of the jockeys who competed in the final event of the night at Louisiana’s Evangeline Downs on Saturday thankfully emerged from that showdown unscathed, and it’s fairly miraculous none of them ended up in the back of an ambulance after one of those emergency vehicles made its way down the track during the race.
Jockeys managed to avoid an ambulance that was driving the wrong way down the track at Evangeline Downs in Louisiana
There were eight races on the slate at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, Louisiana on Saturday evening, and eight competitors entered the 870-yard Quarter Horse event that capped off the action.
Explosive Legend was the odds-on favorite in the showdown that boasted a $14,000 purse, but it crossed the finish line in second place behind One Fast Cajun. However, the race was ultimately declared a “no contest” for a very understandable reason due to what transpired during the first turn.
Footage from the race captured the tight pack making its way around the rail before encountering an ambulance that was driving the wrong way down the track. All of the jockeys managed to avoid the vehicle, including Eliazar Vera, who was riding Kvn Valiant Corona and quickly maneuvered himself and the horse out of harm’s way at the last second.
Quarter Horse race declared no contest at Evangeline Downs. Incredible reaction by jockeys to avoid going head-first into a vehicle on the track. pic.twitter.com/w3TbCkARj4
— Ray Paulick (@raypaulick) November 23, 2025
It’s not entirely clear how an ambulance ended up on the track during a race, but it is clear that things could have turned out much, much worse if the jockeys hadn’t managed to react as quickly as they did.