Jockey involved in crash that killed Dean Holland takes indefinite leave from racing
A FEMALE jockey involved in the pile-up that killed jockey Dean Holland is taking an indefinite leave from racing.
The racing world was plunged into mourning when Holland, 34, died as a result of his injuries sustained in a fall at Donald racecourse in Australia on Monday.
Alana Kelly, 24, came off Time To Rumble as Holland fell off his mount Headingley.
Fortunately Kelly was able to walk away from the scene but suffered a broken hand.
Her agent told racing.com the injury is not as much a concern as the trauma she suffered being part of the fatal incident.
Peter Meilak said: “She’s got a couple of fractures in her left hand and some abrasions, but I don’t think that is going to be the main concern.
“She’ll recover from that pretty quickly but given the circumstances, I just said, ‘Take all the time you need. When you are right, then come back, but there’s no pressure to come back at any particular time’.
“She was pretty close to Dean and her family is pretty close.
“Look at everyone else that wasn’t involved in it. Look at how hard everyone is taking it, so I can’t imagine what Alana is going through.
“I’m still receiving messages even now from people thinking of Alana and wanting the best for her.
“Alana’s young, she’s strong and obviously we’ve got to give her time to deal with things and not just her injuries.
“I’d be very surprised if she came back before mid-May at the very earliest.”
Kelly has 210 career winners and has amassed more than £5.5million in prize money.
Holland’s family recently released a statement, calling him a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ person.
The statement read: “We are aware of thousands who are sharing our pain as we come to the reality we have lost a once in a lifetime person, a much loved partner, an amazing father of four beautiful young children in Harley, Luca, Frankie and Lily, as well as a special brother and a wonderful son.
“The outpouring of love for Dean and the care and support for us is helping us deal with our loss.
“We are thinking of Dean’s colleagues in the jockeys’ room as well as all in our industry that he loved so much.
“Finally, as a family, we ask that we be given the privacy we need at this time as we begin to come to terms with our loss.”