Leandro Henrique, the Brazilian jockey who rose from a children’s pony school in Recife to the top rank of his country’s sport, died in the early hours of August 19, 2026, from injuries suffered in a heavy fall during the second race on the Brazilian Jockey Club’s program at Hipódromo da Gávea in Rio de Janeiro on August 16. His mount, Native Coffee, was pushed off the track and jumped the perimeter rail, throwing him; he suffered cranial trauma and an open fracture of the hip. He was 27.
Track medics got to him within moments and he was rushed to Hospital Miguel Couto, where he remained hospitalized. On Tuesday, August 18, he was transferred to the Humaitá-based Casa de Saúde São José, and his final hours were spent there in intensive care.
His death hit hard in a sport where he had become a fixture before most riders finish their apprenticeships. Henrique had booted home more than 1,000 winners, and at the time of the accident he sat second in the 2026/2027 jockeys’ standings with 15 victories, behind Henderson Fernandes on 17. He was regarded as arguably the country’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 tribute statement. The club’s racing commission opened a review the day after the fall and closed the inquiry on August 18 — the day before he died — finding no intent during the running and penalizing none of the professionals involved. A wake was held at the Tribuna Social at Gávea on Thursday, August 20, and he was buried in Recife the following afternoon.
From Pony School to Gávea
Born in Pernambuco, Henrique 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 soon afterward moved to Rio de Janeiro, where the ceiling on his talent disappeared.
Urbanesco gave him his first win at Gávea on June 7, 2015, for Stud JIFE. The climb after that was rapid. He took the jockey premiership at Brazil’s principal racetrack in the 2016/2017 season — the first title won by a member of the country’s jockey academy, and still the only one an apprentice from the Jockey Club Brasileiro’s Escola de Profissionais do Turfe has managed.
Jockey agent Danilo Aglio was beside him from the start and stayed an inseparable presence as the big races piled up. Signing with Haras Anderson, and the colors of the Stabile family, opened the door to the top level. Henrique landed his first Grade 1 in 2017 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 was the best he partnered, Henrique never wavered: London Moon, by Agnes Gold. The pair took 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 on June 23, 2024, which proved London Moon’s final career start before he went to stud. The horse carried the colors of Haras Anderson and later those of Haras Sweet Carol. His 1,000th career win 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
Henrique and his wife, jockey-turned-trainer Victoria Mota, used a two-horse match race at Gávea on January 18, 2025, to reveal the sex of their first child. Their daughter, Manoela, arrived midway through that year.
He won the Grande Prêmio Brasil (G1), the biggest race in Brazil, on June 22, 2025, riding Sinsel, a son of Alpha running for Stud Red Rafa — and he nearly threw it away. With 50 meters to run 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.
A Last Grade 1 and a Family in Mourning
He kept his promise, and he kept winning. Recently retained by Haras Santa Maria de Araras, Henrique rode the Hofburg-sired Passion Of Detail to victory in the Grande Prêmio Margarida Polak Lara – Taça de Prata (G1) at Gávea on August 1, 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 third in the 2024 International Jockeys’ Challenge in Riyadh, ahead of a field that included Britain’s Ryan Moore — as does Manoela. The Brazilian Jockey Club, in mourning, extended its condolences to Victoria, Manoela and Henrique’s family and friends, and held a minute of silence at Gávea on Sunday, August 23. The Jockey Club de Pernambuco renamed the 29th Grande Prêmio Roberto Sá, run at the Hipódromo da Madalena on August 29, the Taça Leandro Henrique.
Nearly all of it played out at Gávea, which is also where jockey Frankie Dettori had his final ever ride. For a generation of Brazilian racing fans, the track will now be remembered as the place where a boy from Recife arrived at 14 and became one of its defining figures.