Jockey Oliver's Mum Injured In Crash
- Wednesday, 13 January 2010 02:59
The mother of champion jockey Damien Oliver is understood to have been taken to a West Australian hospital after being involved in a car crash that claimed two lives.
Oliver's mother Pat Rudland is believed to be one of four people involved in a two-car collision on the Forrest Highway, near Lake Clifton, south of Perth, on Tuesday afternoon.
Police would not confirm Ms Rudland's involvement but said the cars, each carrying two people, crashed about 3.15pm (WST) at the intersection of the Forrest Highway and Old Coast Road.
"It was a car versus car and one of the cars rolled over," police spokesman Samuel Dinnison said.
A 78-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman from Busselton were critically injured and died at the scene.
Mr Dinnison said a 72-year-old woman from Ascot, in Perth's east, was taken to the Peel Health Campus in Mandurah with serious injuries, along with a second woman in the car who was not seriously injured.
A hospital spokeswoman could not confirm if either of the injured women was the mother of the two-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey.
Oliver was scheduled to ride at Melbourne's Sandown racetrack on Wednesday but stood himself down from those commitments to fly to Western Australia.
He will also miss the Moonee Valley meeting on Friday night and his manager Mark Van Triet is unsure if Oliver will return in time to ride at Flemington on Saturday.
Van Triet said the leading jockey had flown to Perth for personal reasons.
Oliver rode Doriemus to a Melbourne Cup win in 1995 and Media Puzzle to victory in the 2002 Melbourne Cup.
His 2002 Cup ride came just days after his brother Jason was killed in a track accident at Perth's Belmont racecourse.
Oliver's father Ray, also a jockey, was killed after falling from a horse in 1975 and he was raised by his mother.
Picture: Fiona Tomlin
