I was racing right behind Almoonqith in the Sydney Cup when he broke down. He was literally there in my face with the prospect of going straight over the top of him on my mount Libran.

The emotions I feel now - especially with a wife and two young children - are accentuated even when nothing does go wrong. You can't help but feel a jolt when something like that happens. It's amazing to see how close I was to a very unsavoury position.

But it was absolutely nothing compared with the news which filtered through shortly afterwards that popular bush jockey Darren Jones was fatally injured after a three-horse fall at Warialda and apprentice Melanie Bolwell was critically injured in the same incident.

I know it is Easter and the Sydney autumn carnival is usually front and centre with the All Aged Stakes and Champagne Stakes the big group 1s at Randwick, but it is hard to emerge from the highs and lows of the sport and the rollercoaster of emotions within a few hours last weekend. For many it will be a different feel walking into the track on Saturday.

But it will be business as usual for me when I ride Invader in the Champagne Stakes and Le Romain in the All Aged Stakes, both of which I think can win on Saturday.

I'd known Darren for almost 20 years and, although I didn't ride against him a lot, he was always looked up to by his peers as a jockeys association representative in NSW. He's been an absolute stalwart in the racing industry in the Hunter and north-west area of the state and will be sorely missed.

I pass on my condolences to his wife and two sons.

On the same morning Toowoomba track riders Ben Saunders and Wade Clasohm were left with serious spinal injuries after an accident at trackwork. It was a horrendous 24 hours for our tight-knit fraternity.

We're quick to lavish praise on some of our best-performed riders on the big stage, but it's people like Darren, Melanie, Ben and Wade who keep the industry ticking. I've advocated that the participants in regional areas must be looked after just as much as anyone else and this only reinforces the point.

These jockeys often clock thousands of kilometres a week to ride at several meetings and might only take home meagre money in the process. It's the toughest of tough gigs.

Before we start questioning why these incidents have happened, let me say there has been an enormous amount of progress made in the area of jockey safety in the past 10 years.

The two main jurisdictions I ride in, Racing NSW and Racing Victoria, have been on the front foot in regards to this area alongside Racing Australia.

There is no doubt we have come a long way, but there is always room for improvement. And we must keep exploring every avenue we can to improve the safety of all jockeys and track riders.

Horse racing is a speed sport, and unfortunately in speed sports accidents occasionally happen.

Back to the Sydney Cup for a second. I know in the heat of the moment there were things said and people questioning why the race was abandoned, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind the stewards made the right call.

I was acutely aware Almoonqith's injury was suffered in one of his hind legs and knew he wouldn't be able to get up. I also saw Blake Shinn fall from Who Shot Thebarman, but was comfortable he would be OK the way he was dislodged from the horse. I knew where the incident had taken place and that worried me.

With that in mind I actually rode into the back straight wondering if there was going to be a signal for the race to be called off. I was actually looking for a call because of the situation and how close I came to being a part of it. The riders in the front half of the field might not have been as conscious of what had unfolded behind them.

By the time the signal came from the clerks of the course and barrier attendants near the start at the 800-metre mark a lot of the jockeys had already kept riding. But you can't question the snap call by stewards to call the race off given what had happened earlier.

They need to have the welfare of horses and humans paramount. And they did.

Hugh Bowman will write a weekly column for Fairfax Media during the autumn carnival. He is donating the fees from his column to BlazeAid.