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‘He Sounded Great’: Injured Jockey Rosario Montanez Talking About Return To Riding

When his phone rang Monday evening, jockey agent Joe Rocco Sr. thought it was going to be a regular update on his client, Rosario Montanez, who was injured in a July 17 spill at Laurel Park.

It turned out to be much more. Though the number displayed was of Montanez's fiancé, Chloe LaBarre, Rocco got the surprise of his life when he answered.

“Her number showed up, but it was him on the phone,” Rocco said. “He spoke to me. He's got a long road ahead of him … but he sounded great. It was great news.”

A San Diego native who was a finalist for the 2011 Eclipse Award as champion apprentice, Montanez was unseated when his mount, 4-year-old filly Hendaya, clipped heels and fell leaving the backstretch of a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for filly and mare claimers 3 and up. While he was being tended to on the track, Hendaya was able to get up and jog off the turf course.

Montanez, 28, underwent surgery July 18 to repair several fractures in his back at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Rocco said the rider was being transferred Tuesday to another facility in the city to begin rehabilitation for his brain injuries.

“I had to explain to him what I thought happened. It was just a bad incident he went through,” Rocco said. “He didn't even know he had surgery, which is a great sign. He's doing well.”

A winner of more than 3,700 career races during his riding career and whose son, Joe Jr. is a jockey based in Kentucky, Rocco gets emotional when talking both to and about Montanez.

“He's my friend. I really care about him a lot,” Rocco said. “I couldn't believe it when he talked to me. I didn't know if he was going to make it or not, that's how bad it was. But, you know he asked me when he's going to be back racing. He said, 'Let's figure this out.'”

A GoFundMe account launched by Laurel trainer Brittany Russell July 18 has raised $37,505 to go toward general living and medical expenses. An initial goal of $20,000 was surpassed in less than 24 hours, and a second $30,000 goal reached days later. The goal has been updated to $50,000.

“I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for coming together to help us out,” LaBarre wrote on the GoFundMe website. “Please continue to pray for him! I'm so thankful for everything people have done for him. It means so much to us.”

To donate to Montanez's GoFundMe campaign, visit www.gofundme.com/f/rosario-montanez

The post ‘He Sounded Great’: Injured Jockey Rosario Montanez Talking About Return To Riding appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Baffert Doesn’t Like Inside Post, Will Scratch McKinzie From Saturday’s Bing Crosby

McKinzie will not run in this Saturday's Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar, trainer Bob Baffert told the Daily Racing Form on Wednesday. The 5-year-old son of Street Sense drew post four of ten in the six-furlong sprint contest, and Baffert doesn't believe the horse will be able to make his best effort from that spot.

“If I had an outside post, I was going to take a chance at it,” Baffert told drf.com. “But he's down in the four-hole, and this track's been playing weird. It's real loose and deep. A horse like him wouldn't have a chance.”

Instead, Baffert plans to wait for the G2 Pat O'Brien over seven furlongs on Aug. 29. Though the “Win and You're In” race offers a berth to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Baffert's long-term goal for McKinzie is still the Breeders' Cup Classic over 1 1/4 miles.

Grand Finale To Summer Sale

The third and final session of Goffs UK’s Summer Sale on Wednesday provided the sale’s highlight when The Million In Mind Partnership’s unbeaten hurdler Grand Roi (Fr) (Spanish Moon) (lot 318) fetched £400,000 from Aidan O’Ryan and trainer Gordon Elliott. The pricetag is the second-highest ever achieved from the annual Million In Mind reduction.

Another pair of horses in training shared the day’s second-highest price of £82,000: Fabrique En France (Fr) (Yeats {Ire}) (lot 340A), who was supplemented off a point-to-point second at Ballycahane on July 3 and bought by Olly Murphy and Aiden Murphy; and Sky Pirate (GB) (Midnight Legend {GB}) (lot 448), a two-time winner over hurdles bought by Wasdell Group.

From 186 horses offered on the day, 158 (85%) were sold for an aggregate of £2,369,850. The average was £14,999 and the median £7,000.

Commenting on the day’s trade and the Summer Sale as a whole, Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent said, “The three-day Summer Sale has been a success from start to finish and today’s trade has been no different. This unique sale was similar in format to our traditional Spring Sale and managed to attract a diverse buying bench that was prepared to spend at all levels of the market either in person, on the phone or online. It is this varied selection of horses that helps to attract these buyers each year and I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all vendors, of stores and horses in training, who have supported us during these unprecedented times and helped Goffs to conduct a very successful sale under a unique set of challenges.”

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Marylou Whitney Collection Auction Adds 220 Items

The Marylou Whitney Collection Auction online event has added 220 items from the philanthropist’s estate. The newly released items will include a featured framed original painting by Whitney entitled “Snow Bird”; signed, circa 1966. The items will be added to the auction and available for bidding at 9:00 am EST July 30 with bidding on all items in the collection ending at 11:59 pm EST on Whitney Day, Aug. 1.

The Marylou Whitney Collection auction benefits the new building that will be the future home of the backstretch medical clinic operated at Saratoga Race Course by Saratoga Hospital and the Backstretch Employee Service Team.

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