Watch: This horse bucks his jockey at the starting gate then goes on to win the race
 

"I don't need no stinking jockey!"
 

I saw the same thing at Suffolk years ago. Jockey fell off but horse kept going, weaving through traffic looking like he was having a blast and "won" the race.

I've seen this a lot of times. Take the 120 lbs, off of a well-schooled horse, and a lot of the time it will waltz through the field.

Even better when you watch it happen with the European jumps racing.

haha, I love watching the jockey-free horses. Impressively trained, this one! He ran a great race!

I hate it because I'm worried they're going to hurt themselves. But once they make it to safety it is pretty cool.

Agreed. Seen some very very bad things happen with loose horses. But I have to say you can learn alot about a horse by what he does after he loses the jock. I always follow back the ones who are so competitive they go for the win and drop those that immediately look to get back to the barn.

In the jumps oversees, there are three types of pilotless horses. The ones tha look for an exit, the ones that complete the course and take all the jumps in the process, and the cheaters thsat follow the pack but run around all the jumps intentionally. Not sure what to make of the latter, obviousy they are very smart but not sure a smart horse equals a fasdt or game horse.

I love horse racing in Japan. That race had 15 runners.

O'Hara threw his rider at the gate and then "won" the Hollywood Gold Cup one year with a huge sweeping move on the far turn. It was an important race too- it was officially Native Diver's third win in a row in the race, at the time a record.

Eskenforit won the Indiana Derby riderless for our racing group a few years ago.

https://www.horseracingnation.com/ne...her_stakes_123

It was fun to watch him in that one. He "timed" his moves in the race.

Here's a pic of him in the paddock on Friday at Oaklawn before finishing 3rd in a starter allowance. Still going strong at age 7 after his 3yo derby season exploits.

We watched that race Friday, he ran a good race at a big price. Been claimed several times since his time with us.