The second race on the Brazilian Jockey Club’s August 16, 2026 program at Hipódromo da Gávea in Rio de Janeiro ended in a heavy fall for Leandro Henrique, and the Brazilian jockey died of his injuries in the early hours of August 19. He was 27, a rider who had climbed from a children’s pony school in Recife to the front rank of his country’s sport.
Track medics reached him within moments, and he was rushed to Hospital Miguel Couto. He had been hospitalized ever since. Tuesday, August 18, brought a transfer to the Humaitá-based Casa de Saúde São José, and it was there, in intensive care, that his final hours were spent.
By the time of the accident he had more than 1,000 winners behind him and sat second in the 2026 jockeys’ championship with 15 victories. He was regarded as arguably Brazil’s leading domestic rider, and the loss landed hard on a sport where he had become a fixture before most riders finish their apprenticeships.
“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 21 its racing commission closed its inquiry into the fall, without penalizing any of the professionals involved, finding no intent during the running. The Comissão de Corridas shut the investigation without identifying anyone at fault, and a wake for Henrique brought friends and family together at Gávea.
From Pony School to Gávea
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 — the point at which the ceiling on his talent disappeared.
Urbanesco, running for Stud JIFE, gave him his first winner at Gávea on June 7, 2015. What followed was rapid. In the 2016/2017 season, his first full year riding at Brazil’s principal racetrack, he finished top of the standings to take the jockey premiership, aged just 16 by then. It was the first time a member of the country’s jockey academy had won the title, and he remains the only apprentice from the Jockey Club Brasileiro’s Escola de Profissionais do Turfe to have managed it.
Jockey agent Danilo Aglio was an inseparable presence from the start, 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 — a son of Roderic O’Connor bred by Haras Anderson and racing for Stud Pedudu — in the Grande Prêmio Cruzeiro do Sul – Derby Brasileiro.
Asked which horse he rated the best he partnered, Henrique never wavered: London Moon, by Agnes Gold. The horse raced first for Haras Anderson and later for Haras Sweet Carol, and together they won the ABCPCC’s Copa Precocidade e Velocidade along with 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, the last of those the final start of London Moon’s career. The 1,000th win of Henrique’s career arrived in style in 2021, in the Grande Prêmio Henrique de Toledo Lara (G2) on the Argentine-bred Casa Blanca, a son of Roman Ruler, for Haras Santa Maria de Araras.
A Celebration That Went Viral
A match race at Gávea in January 2025 doubled as the gender reveal for the first child of Henrique and his wife, jockey-turned-trainer Victoria Mota. Their daughter, Manoela, arrived midway through that year.
June 2025 brought 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 put Sinsel’s nose down first, ahead of runner-up Valparaiso. The clip circled the world; the stewards were less charmed, and Henrique was banned 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.
A Last Grade 1 and a Family in Mourning
The promise held, and so did the winning. Recently retained by Haras Santa Maria de Araras, Henrique partnered the Hofburg-sired Passion Of Detail to win the Grande Prêmio Margarida Polak Lara – Taça de Prata (G1) at Gávea in August 2026. It proved the final major success of a career that produced 11 wins at top level.
Mota survives him — a rider of international standing herself, she finished ahead of jockeys including Britain’s Ryan Moore in the 2024 International Jockeys’ Challenge in Riyadh — as does Manoela, whose name is also rendered Manuela in some accounts. 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, which is also the track where jockey Frankie Dettori had his final ever ride. For a generation of Brazilian racing fans, it will now be remembered as the place where a boy from Recife arrived at 14 and became one of its defining figures.
