{"id":82682,"date":"2023-12-06T17:20:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/?p=82682"},"modified":"2023-12-06T17:20:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:20:13","slug":"i-was-a-legendary-jockey-who-had-5million-in-surgery-and-became-a-film-star-im-known-as-the-bionic-man-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/lifestyle\/i-was-a-legendary-jockey-who-had-5million-in-surgery-and-became-a-film-star-im-known-as-the-bionic-man-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I was a legendary jockey who had \u00a35million in surgery and became a film star – I'm known as The Bionic Man | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

"YOU won't even ride a merry-go-round – you're a millimetre from being a quadriplegic."<\/p>\n

That was how the legendary career of top jockey Gary Stevens ended.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After more than \u00a35million in surgery, a new hip and knee and countless blows to the head, his doctor told him he could take no more.<\/p>\n

Mind you, with more than \u00a3200m in prize money, a film career and lucrative role as a TV analyst, it's easy to suggest it was all worth it for the jockey known as 'The Bionic Man'.<\/p>\n

He certainly won just about all there was to win on the track.<\/p>\n

His more than 5,000 wins included three in the Kentucky Derby, three Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes and two Kentucky Oaks.<\/p>\n

He made the Breeders' Cup – known as racing's world championships – his own during the Nineties.<\/p>\n

There was the 1990 Turf win, two Juvenile triumphs, a Juvenile Fillies win and the 1996 Mile.<\/p>\n

His dominant run in one of US Racing's biggest festivals included the 2013 Classic and four Distaffs, including his final at the meeting in 2016.<\/p>\n

By that time he had already been a grandfather for four years.<\/p>\n

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And by then he had already established himself as a star of the screen.<\/p>\n

Stevens featured in the 2003 film Seabiscuit, which was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture and starred Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and William H Macy.<\/p>\n

The movie told the story of the legendary horse who overcame his small size to become a national treasure and hope to many during the Great Depression of the 1930s.<\/p>\n

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Stevens, naturally, played a jockey in the film and did also in the HBO show Luck.<\/p>\n

His skills in front of camera were honed during TV gigs with TVG and NBC Sports where he worked as an analyst dissecting the on-track action.<\/p>\n

But for all his wins, money and fame, ask Stevens about his career and the one thing he picks out is that never-ending list of injuries.<\/p>\n

It started early on.<\/p>\n

In 1985 aged just 22 he was put in a coma for 16 hours when a horse threw him into a rail.<\/p>\n

In the 2003 Arlington Million victory looked assured on Storming Home until the horse got spooked and sent Stevens flying 20 yards from the winning post.<\/p>\n

He didn't have time to move and a trailing horse stamped on his face.<\/p>\n

Stevens himself admitted he thought that was the end, that he couldn't possibly survive being whacked in the face by a 500kg beast travelling at more than 30mph.<\/p>\n

But miraculously he was back racing just 19 days later.<\/p>\n

Countless other surgeries followed that setback but it was the final one, at Del Mar on November 17, 2018, that signalled the end.<\/p>\n

Stevens explained: "My doctor told me very bluntly. He said, 'you're done'.<\/p>\n

"He told me I wouldn't even ride a merry-go-round and that I was a millimetre away from being a quadriplegic.<\/p>\n

"I had another surgery after that but I'm at peace with my decision to retire. It's over with.<\/p>\n

"I had never felt like I did with this injury. This was like getting hit with a bolt of lightning five times in ten minutes.<\/p>\n

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"The numbness wouldn't go away so I knew there was something going on.<\/p>\n

"But it was worth it. I wouldn't change a thing."<\/p>\n

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