Hackett was pulled along the ground behind Buddy Guy and dragged across grass, through puddles and an access pathway before the horse stopped and was caught unharmed.
“I know how bad it could’ve gone if I had let go.
“But at the same time, it’s just natural instinct to hold and just hope for the best – hope that I can stop the horse. It worked out last night, but it doesn’t always,” she told the Herald.
“I’ve definitely got a few sore spots – a few bruises have come up quick last night – and I was pretty stiff this morning. But the more the day has gone on I’ve been a bit better,” she laughed.
The 21-year-old was up and ready for work at 6.30am at the Barry Purdon & Scott Phelan Racing Stables, the trainers for the horse involved in last night’s incident.
She said Buddy Guy suddenly got scared of another horse on the track, resulting in what happened next.
‘It did feel like getting dragged for 10 minutes’
“The start of it happened in quite slow motion. But when I initially got tipped out, I knew I was going to hit the ground,” Hackett said.
“And when I was getting dragged, I thought: ‘Oh, this could go on for a while’. It did feel like I was getting dragged for 10 minutes, but it was only about 20 seconds.”
She was afraid the animal could hurt himself running into nearby fences, drains, vehicles or another horse if she did not manage to stop him.
Afterwards, she said the horse was unfazed.
“He went back into the barn, had a shower and wash and was happy as Larry. He was unharmed and that’s the main thing.”
Hackett’s mother Michelle Wallis was out of town so could not attend the race. Wallis’ husband Bernie Hackett was there but did not see the incident, having been in the stables preparing horses for the next race.
Wallis said she had seen video footage of the moment and was not surprised by her daughter’s actions.
“The horse always comes first for her,” she said.
Hackett returned to the stabling area, her driving pants stained by grass and mud, but still smiling.
She was examined by the ambulance staff on track and found to have sustained no injuries so was cleared to drive in the last race, which she promptly won driving Maro Mackendon for her parents who are also trainers at Pinebrook Harness Racing in Waiuku.
Asked about her driving pants, Hackett laughed: “I’ve put them in a bucket and started soaking them. But they weren’t looking too good this morning.
“Hopefully they come right, or they might just be a bin job.”
Harness racing drivers are trained to hold on to horses if they are pushed or fall out of the sulky to try to stop the horse and keep it from harm, but few hold on as long or as publicly as Hackett did.
Asked about her future plans, Hackett said she would continue harness racing.
“I love the sport, I love driving horses and I can’t see myself doing anything else. So same thing, really – just winning races and doing the best I can in the industry.”
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
