Lawson-Carroll recuperating after serious race fall
Jess de Lautour • July 27th, 2025 5:40 PM
Apprentice jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll is recuperating in Waikato Hospital after sustaining serious injuries in a shocking race fall at Te Rapa on Saturday.
Lawson-Carroll was one of four riders taken to hospital after the fall, alongside Ashlee Strawbridge, Rihaan Goyaram and Hayley Hassman. His fellow jockeys were cleared of any serious injury, but Lawson-Carroll went into surgery on Saturday night, having an operation on his femur.
The 20-year-old is indentured to Byerley Park trainers Shaun and Emma Clotworthy, and the former was pleased to share that Lawson-Carroll was feeling positive when they spoke on Sunday morning.
“He’s in Waikato Hospital and had an operation on his femur last night, they were a bit worried that it may be cutting off some blood circulation so they operated on that,” he said. “I believe he has to have an operation on his hip and his shoulder, so he’s got a couple more to go.
“We’ve spoken to him this morning and he’s pretty positive, his partner is up there with him now and Emma’s been there today, and I think we’ll go in after the races today.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the surgeons yet, but when I go in, I’ll hopefully be able to have a chat and see what sort of rehabilitation and recovery he’ll be doing.
“He’s a fit young man, with a positive attitude.”
It was an unfortunate end to a career-best season for Lawson-Carroll, having guided 51 winners and his first at Listed level this term.
New Zealand Jockeys’ Association Executive Officer Andrew Lacy shared further updates on Strawbridge, Goyaram and Hassman on Sunday afternoon.
“I have been in contact with each of the jockeys, and all three are doing well under the circumstances,” he said.
“Rihaan has a pretty sore lower back at the moment and will be having an x-ray on Monday.
“Hayley has a significant haematoma on her left lower leg, thankfully there were no breaks, but she has remained in hospital for close observation. If she continues to improve, she may be discharged this afternoon (Sunday), but is unsure of recovery time at this stage.
“Ashlee is very battered and bruised, but her scans and x-rays have all come back clear. She will be heading back to the fracture clinic next week to double check, but it is looking positive at this stage.”
