After initially saying he was uninjured following a spill he was involved in on Sunday at Monmouth Park – and even riding two races later – jockey Jorge Luis Gonzalez revealed today that he suffered a stable fracture of his L3 vertebrae from the incident that could sideline him four to six weeks.
Gonzalez went for tests at Monmouth Medical Center late Sunday night after feeling discomfort.
“I'm in a lot of pain now,” he said.
In addition, jockey Samy Camacho, also involved in the spill, will undergo further evaluation today in Florida to learn the extent of a right shoulder injury he suffered during the mishap, according to his agent Mike Moran.
Camacho, second in the rider standings at Monmouth Park with 29 wins, flew to Tampa Sunday night. Camacho lives in the Tampa area.
“His shoulder is sore, but the X-rays (taken Sunday at Monmouth Medical Center) did not show anything broken,” said Moran. “It could be dislocated, we're not sure. But the initial X-rays did not show a break.”
Camacho hit the turf in the fourth race when his mount, Bingo's Girl, could not avoid a fallen Momma's Kim and jockey Jorge Gonzalez. Momma's Kim went down after clipping heels with Gold Alliance, who drifted out at the three-eighths mark of the five-furlong grass event for 2-year-old fillies.
Because of the uncertainty over the extent of the injury, Moran did not yet have a timetable for Camacho's return. The 35-year-old from Caracas, Venezuela, has been riding first call for Klaravich Stables and Chad Brown at Monmouth Park, having won with eight of 14 starters for those connections at the meet.
“He will be off at least a week, maybe a couple of weeks,” said Moran. “We should know more after he sees the doctor today. He wants to be 100 percent when he does come back.”
Gonzalez, who has five wins from 42 starts at the Monmouth meet, said he has scheduled a follow-up with an orthopedist.
He said he initially did not think he had suffered any injuries in the spill and even rode Bayou Shack to a second-place finish two races later.
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