Abel Lezcano put on an incredible show of courage and athleticism at Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago on Sunday, holding on for dear life after his right stirrup broke while he was battling for the lead in the third race aboard the 5-year-old gelding Christmas Present.
The duo started from the No. 1 post position in the one-mile, 70-yard claiming race on the main track, with Christmas Present taking the early advantage on his rivals. As Christmas Present rounded the clubhouse turn into the backstretch while engaged with Blooming Garden for the lead, Lezcano virtually disappeared from the camera view after the right stirrup suddenly gave out.
The next day, Lezcano told the Paulick Report he heard a loud snap, and suddenly his right foot was without a stirrup, adding that he had just purchased the equipment. The stirrup, he said, was made from a carbon material.
Track announcer Peter Galassi was momentarily confused, not sure if Lezcano had been thrown from the mount, but then saying “the rider is out of the saddle but is still with the horse… a little confusing there, didn't see him. Thought he was off, but he was on. … Just a tremendous job by Abel Lezcano to keep aboard that horse.”
The head-on patrol films showed Lezcano, pitched onto the right side of his mount, clinging onto the neck of Christmas Present, who continued to run at full speed. For more than 10 seconds, Lezcano struggled to get back atop the horse, finally pulling himself back aboard Christmas Present, who gradually dropped back while racing close to the rail.
Lezcano continued his way around the course riding bareback style, his legs wrapped around the horse, until an outrider caught up with him as he trailed the field down the stretch.
Lezcano may have been shaken by the incident, but he came back to ride the next four races on Sunday's card, going out a winner in the seventh-race finale with a stretch-running victory aboard Maneuver.
On Sunday night, Lezcano posted the following message on the social media site formerly known as Twitter:
Thank God I'm only sore but glad didn't fall or hurt anybody. By the grace of the lord I'm here
and will continue working hard
https://t.co/Sjcq7yIcfX
— Abel Lezcano (@AbelLezcano_507) August 20, 2023
A 33-year-old native of Panama, Lezcano has won 448 races since coming to the U.S. in 2009. One of those victories was aboard Nancy From Nairobi in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita in 2016.
A similar incident occurred at Golden Gate Fields in 1989 when jockey Nate Hubbard was unseated after his mount Sweetwater Oak stumbled in deep stretch on a muddy track. Hubbard hung on to the mare's neck for the final dozen strides and won a photo finish for second. Because Hubbard did not touch the ground while dangling from Sweetwater Oak's neck, no rules were violated and the result was allowed to stand.
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