Stevens suffered serious injuries Report: Sulamani wins in Chicago

Jockey Gary Stevens, who stars in the new film Seabiscuit, has no recollection of the terrifying fall that nearly killed him.

The American suffered a collapsed lung and a broken vertebra in his upper back after tumbling from Storming Home after crossing the finishing line of the Arlington Million.

"I'm just glad I'm alive right now," said Stevens. "I can remember the race very vividly until the head of the stretch. Everything through the stretch is basically a blur."

Storming Home finished a half-length ahead of Sulamani in the Chicago race but was relegated to fourth after a stewards' inquiry.

"I've had a couple of dreams or nightmares, but they've been from the perspective of me up above watching the accident, not me on the horse," said Stevens.

Storming Home appeared to be spooked by something near the finish line of the turf race.

The day before, he had abruptly pulled up at the same point on the main track.

"Whether he was spotting something or it was a habit, I don't know," Stevens said. "He's not a mean horse. I know he wasn't trying to hurt me."

As Stevens lay on the turf, the trailing horses stampeded by his crumpled form.

"I was scared to death. I thought I was having a heart attack," he said. "I thought I was dying. I'd never felt the type of pain in my chest I was experiencing."

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Stevens, a professional jockey who has won the Kentucky Derby three times, plays a supporting role in the Seabiscuit movie, which stars Tobey Maguire.

The film has reached the top five at the US box office and is scheduled for release in the UK in November.

It is the true story of an undersized horse that lifted the spirits of the US with its achievements during the Depression, and is tipped for possible Oscar recognition.

Doctors at Northwest Community Hospital re-inflated Stevens' lung after it collapsed in the fall, according to a statement issued by Laura Hillenbrand, author of the best-selling book Seabiscuit, from which the movie was made.

Hillenbrand said Stevens had struggled to breathe and told paramedics: "I don't know what a heart attack feels like, but I think I'm having one."

He was scheduled to be aboard Candy Ride in Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, but will miss the mount.

Stevens' theatrical agent Eddie Goldstone told Joe Harper, president and general manager of Del Mar, that the jockey would be out of action for a month.