Brazilian jockey Leandro Henrique, who started at a children’s pony school in Recife and reached the front rank of his country’s sport, died in the early hours of August 19, 2026, from a head injury and a fractured hip suffered in a heavy fall at Hipódromo da Gávea in Rio de Janeiro. The rider, 27, went down in the second race of the Brazilian Jockey Club’s program on August 16.
Track medics reached him within moments and rushed him to Hospital Miguel Couto, and he remained hospitalized from then on. He was transferred on Tuesday, August 18, to the Humaitá-based Casa de Saúde São José. His final hours were spent there, in intensive care.
He had become a fixture in Brazilian racing before most riders finish their apprenticeships, which is part of why the loss landed so hard. More than 1,000 wins were on his record, and at the time of the accident he sat second in the 2026/2027 season standings with 15 victories. He was regarded as arguably Brazil’s leading domestic rider.
“Leandro leaves behind a remarkable legacy in Brazilian horse racing and a profound void among family, friends, professionals, and admirers of the sport,” the Brazilian Jockey Club said in a statement. On August 18, the day before he died, its racing commission closed its inquiry into the fall, finding no intent during the running and penalizing none of the professionals involved. Reporting on the Comissão de Corridas closing the investigation also described the wake held for Henrique at Gávea after his death, which brought together friends and family. The Jockey Club Brasileiro held a further tribute at the track on Sunday, August 23, with a minute’s silence and a reading, his daughter Manoela on the lawn where he had won his biggest races; the Jockey Club de Pernambuco honored him during its Grande Prêmio Roberto Sá. A Flamengo supporter, Henrique was also honored at the Maracanã on Sunday, August 30, in a posthumous tribute the Brazilian Jockey Club arranged with the club during its match against Botafogo.
Henrique was born in Pernambuco and first got around horses at nine, when he enrolled at the Escola de Pôneis, the pony school in Recife. He was riding in races at Hipódromo da Madalena by 14, and the move to Rio de Janeiro followed soon after.
Urbanesco gave him his first win at Gávea on June 7, 2015, for Stud JIFE, and the climb from there was rapid. After his first full year riding at Brazil’s principal racetrack, he finished top of the standings, taking the jockey premiership in the 2016/2017 season; by then he was just 16. He remains the only apprentice from the Jockey Club Brasileiro’s Escola de Profissionais do Turfe ever to manage it.
Jockey agent Danilo Aglio was beside him from the start, an inseparable presence through a career that filled up quickly with major races. The top level opened up when Haras Anderson signed him to carry the colors of the Stabile family. His first Grade 1 came aboard Emperor Roderic in the Grande Prêmio Cruzeiro do Sul – Derby Brasileiro; the horse, a son of Roderic O’Connor, was bred by Haras Anderson and raced for Stud Pedudu.
He never wavered when asked which horse he rated the best he partnered: London Moon, by Agnes Gold. The horse raced first for Haras Anderson and later for Haras Sweet Carol, and together they took the ABCPCC’s Copa Precocidade e Velocidade plus a trio of Group 1 prizes — the Grande Prêmio Jockey Club Brasileiro, the Grande Prêmio Estado do Rio de Janeiro and the Grande Prêmio Presidente da República, which proved to be London Moon’s final career start. His 1,000th career win, in 2021, came in style: the Grande Prêmio Henrique de Toledo Lara (G2) aboard the Argentine-bred Casa Blanca, a daughter of Roman Ruler, for Haras Santa Maria de Araras.
A match race at Gávea in January 2025 doubled as something else for Henrique and his wife, jockey-turned-trainer Victoria Mota: it was where they revealed the gender of their first child. Their daughter, Manoela, arrived midway through that year.
Then came June 2025 and the Grande Prêmio Brasil (G1), the biggest race in Brazil. Henrique won it aboard Sinsel, a son of Alpha running for Stud Red Rafa — and nearly threw it away. With 50 meters left, he stood up in the irons to celebrate, arm outstretched to the crowd, oblivious to a rival closing fast up his inside. The photo finish showed Sinsel’s nose down first, ahead of runner-up Valparaiso. The clip circled the world; the stewards were less charmed, and Henrique was banned for 59 days and fined.
“I want to apologise to Mr Esteves and to the owners, Stud Red Rafa. This will never happen again,” Henrique said afterward.
The promise held, and so did the winning. Recently retained by Haras Santa Maria de Araras, he steered the Hofburg-sired Passion Of Detail to victory in the Grande Prêmio Margarida Polak Lara – Taça de Prata (G1) at Gávea on August 1. That was the final major success of a career that produced 11 wins at top level.
Mota survives him, herself a rider of international standing who finished ahead of jockeys including Britain’s Ryan Moore in the 2024 International Jockeys’ Challenge in Riyadh, as does Manoela. The Brazilian Jockey Club, in mourning, extended its condolences to Victoria, Manoela and Henrique’s family and friends.
Nearly all of it played out at Gávea, the same track where jockey Frankie Dettori had his final ride as a professional, in February 2026. For a generation of Brazilian racing fans, it will now be remembered as the place where a boy from Recife arrived and became one of its defining figures.
