Apprentice jockey Mauro Cedillo, a 24-year-old native of Guatemala, was hospitalized on Monday following a spill during the running of the first race at JACK Thistledown racetrack in North Randall, Ohio.
Cedillo was racing on the lead aboard Spectacular Road, the 2-1 second choice in the 5 1/2-furlong race for $5,000 claimers run over a sealed muddy track, when the 10-year-old gelding appeared to stumble, his nose momentarily going down toward the ground. Cedillo was tossed over the horse's neck, landing awkwardly, and then somersaulting after appearing to get struck by a horse racing directly behind him.
Cedillo was attended to at the scene and then transported to a local hospital before being taken by helicopter to the emergency room at MetroHealth Medical Center's main campus, about 15 miles away from the track in Cleveland.
Specific injuries or his condition are not known at this time.
Spectacular Road continued to run before being caught by an outrider.
The remainder of the day's eight-race card was cancelled, an unnamed official for the track telling the Thoroughbred Daily News that Cedillo's fellow jockeys voted not to ride.
Cedillo, cousin of Southern California-based rider Abel Cedillo, began riding as an apprentice in the U.S. in 2021, scoring his first win aboard Chillville at Thistledown on June 11, 2022. By year's end, with George Wolfe Award-winning retired jockey Luis Quinones serving as his agent, Cedillo won the leading rider title at Ohio's Mahoning Valley racecourse fall meet, winning with 33 of 196 mounts.
Early this year, there were reports Cedillo was going to join his cousin in Southern California, where Derek Lawson had contacted him to be his agent. Those plans changed, however, and Cedillo remained in Ohio, moving to Thistledown when that meet started on April 24.
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