A TOP jockey was rushed to hospital after having his finger BITTEN OFF by a horse in a shocking accident.
Pablo Morales, 34, was whisked into emergency surgery to have his pinkie finger reattached when he realised the bone was hanging out of his glove.
The incident occurred in Florida on Sunday when he was in the starting stalls preparing to ride four-year-old Nicolino in the Tampa Bay Downs.
As he got ready to race, a different horse rode up beside him and bit his hand.
A burning sensation made it clear to Morales that he needed to go to hospital.
Before surgery, he tweeted: "Going into surgery soon, my finger was almost completely amputated. I just really hope they can save it."
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Fortunately, the doctors were able to reattach it as he took to social media to give a positive update.
He added: "I wasn’t sure what happened. But when I saw my hand and went into the ambulance, I knew it was really bad.
"I was actually bitten by the horse next to me. I didn’t know what happened because I just felt a hit and then my finger was hanging."
Racer Morales is now set to be out of action for several weeks as he recovers from the gruesome injury.
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And he has revealed he was not aware it was a bite that caused the injury until he saw footage of the moment it happened.
He said: "When I looked at the video, it was like we both reached that point at the same time.
"My horse took a fast step forward, and when I reached with my hand to hold on to the bar (between the stalls), she reached to the left with her head and we met in the middle.
"I was getting ready to grab some mane again (for the start), and when I saw my finger I thought, Oh my God, this is terrible.
"The timing was unbelievable. It’s the freakiest accident I’ve ever been involved in."
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