“He's been making some good really progress,” said his sister and legal guardian, Ashley Canchari. “Him getting on the horse really shows a lot when it comes to his recovery. Just being able to balance himself on the horse without support was a big step.”

For Canchari, who began riding in 2011 and whose brother Alex is currently riding at Prairie Meadows, March 17, 2020 was supposed to be like any other day. Scheduled to work some horses, he was driving to Turf Paradise and was only a block away from the track when his vehicle collided with another car.

The situation was extremely serious. He broke his neck and suffered a grade 3 diffuse axonal brain injury, considered one of the most severe forms of traumatic brain injury.

The Canchari family, unable to visit Patrick in the hospital because of COVID-19 restrictions, was presented with a dire prognosis. And with Canchari still in a coma two months after the accident, it was hard not to expect the worst.

“Basically, his neurocritical team said he most likely he would be vegetated and paralyzed the rest of his life,” his sister said. “They said that most of his progress would come within the first year and then after that it would fizzle out.”

He still has a long way to go. Ashley Canchari said that her brother is not able to live independently. Even if he is walking with a cane, someone needs to be at his side in case he loses his balance. She admits that, cognitively, he's not the same as we were before the accident and that there are issues with his memory. But what is so encouraging is that he continues to get better every day, something many experts saw as unlikely if not impossible. That's why getting up on a horse was such a big deal.

“That he continues to make progress is why we are hopeful that the next step will be that he will get to a point where he can be as close to being as independent as possible,” Ashley Canchari said. “We've worked with a lot of his specialists and doctors, world renowned specialists, and they are just amazed at the progress he has made.”

Out of the hospital, Patrick moved in with his sister in October of 2020. His friends and family, refusing to give up hope that he could get better, looked everywhere for answers.

“We sought out a lot of alternative therapies and treatments, which have helped,” she said. “We used supplements and modified his diet, down to his drinking water. We put a lot of research into trying to help him recover.”

Canchari believes that her brother would not have made the progress he has had his friends and family given up hope that he could recover.

“I was adamant from get go that we needed to keep a positive mind set and believe that anything is possible,” she said. “We needed to remain optimistic despite what everyone else was saying. If you get stuck in a doom-and-gloom cycle then everything else is impacted. We just tried to keep an optimistic mind set and truly believe these milestones could be reached.”

That Canchari got aboard a horse does not mean that he is going to ride in a race anytime soon. But it did provide his family with another ray of hope.

“We are starting off pretty slowly,” Ashley said. “He hopes to ride again but there are still a lot of things that we are working on. He's already done a lot that doctors and specialists said would never happen so I am confident that anything is possible.”

She hopes that he will be able to walk on his own within a year and lead a more independent life.

“For him to walk independently, without the assistance of cane or a walker or anything else, would be a huge development,” she said.

She said that her brother has set a goal to return to the track as an exercise rider some time in 2024. If he is able to do that, then, maybe the next step would be for him to ride in races. Can it happen? It would mean defying the odds, but no one is ruling that out.

The post After Near Fatal Accident, Jockey Patrick Canchari Reaches New Milestone appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Transalp Race spans 355 miles over (570 kilometres) seven days, including uphill ascents that total more than 18,000 altitude metres. Beginning on Sunday in Nauders in Austria and crossing both the Austrian and Swiss Alps, the race finishes in the Italian town of Riva del Garda.

Mahot set himself a fund-raising target of £5,000, with proceeds donated to brain injury charity Headway in memory of Treadwell, who died tragically June 23, 2020.

“I had my own personal battles with mental health at the start of the COVID pandemic, and a friend suggested mountain biking,” said Mahot. “I knew then that I wanted to do something to raise more awareness about the link between concussion and depression, particularly within the racing industry–then I heard about Bike Transalp.”

Donations can be made via: Fundraiser by Jeremy Mahot: Transalp4Treadwell: Raising Money For Headway (www.gofundme.com)

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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.”

“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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“Three weeks ago he was bouncing and his usual self, but within a short space of time it became apparent he had suffered a very acute brain injury, ” Hugh Suffern, principal of Tullyraine House Stud, told Racing Post. “He fought very hard for around three weeks, but eventually he succumbed in the middle of last week.”

A winner of the 2008 G1 St. Leger and GI Breeders’ Cup Turf for trainer Sir Michael Stoute, he was named the 2008 English Highweighted 3-year-old from 10 1/2-13 1/2 furlongs and 13 1/2 furlongs and up and the Eclipse Champion Grass Horse Stateside that year, too.

The chestnut returned as a 4-year-old and added Ascot’s G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. and another edition of the Breeders’ Cup Turf to his resume and was awarded another championship in England, as the Highweighted Older Horse from 11-14 furlongs, while he was also third in the 2009 G1 Coral-Eclipse S.

Breeding rights in Conduit had been acquired by Big Red Farm prior to his second Breeders’ Cup win. Retired after a fourth-place finish in the G1 Japan Cup with a mark of 15-7-2-3 and $5,815,813 in earnings, Conduit served six seasons at Big Red Farm (2010-2015) before moving to Tullyraine House Stud in Ireland from 2016 onwards. At stud, he sired the GSP Daiichi Terminal (Jpn) and SP Kineo Pegasus (Jpn) in Japan, but his offspring have so far found more success in the jumping sphere.

Already responsible for G2 Great Voltigeur S. hero Hard Top (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}), MSP Spray Gun (Ire) (Octagonal {NZ}) and the dams of G1 MacKinnon S. hero Glass Harmonium (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}), MGSW Arab Spring (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}), and G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. heroine Liber Nauticus (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), as well as the granddam of English highweight, GI E. P. Taylor S. and G2 Middleton S. winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), Well Head produced Conduit as her final foal.

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Once hospitalized, Turner discovered he also had prostate cancer which had spread to his bones. The hit to his head also caused a brain injury. After surgery to repair his neck and nearly two months in the hospital, Turner was finally released to head home. Doctors are focusing on the neck and brain injuries before they are able to treat the cancer.

A friend and neighbor, Rick Wallace, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Turner cover his ongoing medical expenses.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The post Billy Turner, Trainer Of Triple Crown Winner Seattle Slew, Recovering From Broken Neck appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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