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Luis Saez Nearing Return

Injured an in Aug. 23 spill at Saratoga in the John's Call S. in which he fractured left wrist and dislocated his right collar bone, jockey Luis Saez has made rapid progress and will be ready to ride on opening day of the Keeneland fall meet on Oct. 6, reports his agent Kiaran McLaughlin.

“He's doing real well,” McLaughlin said. “There's no pain and he's doing physical therapy. He will be X-rayed in a few days. He'll be back for sure for beginning of Keeneland, if not a week before. He might ride a couple in Florida because he's down there.”

With 30 winners already at the meet, Saez was injured just three days before he was to ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Travers S. Saez was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center. According to McLaughlin, the doctors there told him he would not need surgery. The next day, Saez went to the Bone & Joint Center in Saratoga for a second opinion and was advised to have surgery.

“The night we went to the Albany Medical Center, three doctors were there and they told me surgery was not required,” McLaughlin said. “They said he had a hairline fracture that would heal in a few weeks and his collarbone will go back in place. It was dislocated but will settle back down. That's when I told people he didn't need surgery. The next morning we went to the Bone & and Joint Center at Saratoga and they said that he was a professional athlete and, therefore, they decided to put a little screw in his wrist and button back his collar bone to put it back in place. They put a button on top and on the bottom. All three things stayed there. They'll never come out.”

Original estimates were that he would be out three to five weeks.

During his downtime, Saez spent time at his home in Florida with his family.

“His mental outlook has been great,” he said. “He's at home with his wife and three daughters and he loves that, loves being with them.”

Saez won last year's Keeneland fall meet by a 21-20 margin over Tyler Gaffalione. McLaughlin is optimistic that his client will have another big meet.

“He's in good shape,” McLaughlin said. “His weight is good. He's very strong. Everything has gone well so far. Can we pick up where we left off? A lot of that falls on the agent. Hopefully, we will have some nice mounts starting back and good support from the people in Kentucky. We already have some stakes mounts.”

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Joel Rosario Injures Rib In Aqueduct Fall, Could Miss Up To Three Weeks

Jockey Joel Rosario could miss up to three weeks after inuring a rib in a fall at Aqueduct on Dec. 2, reports bloodhorse.com. The year's leading rider by earnings, Rosario was unseated from his second-race mount Irish Constitution shortly after the wire. He took off the remainder of Thursday's mounts, and later went to the hospital when he experienced discomfort breathing.

Agent Ron Anderson suggested that opening day at Santa Anita Park on Dec. 26 could fall in line with Rosario's return to action.

“Those kind of things, usually it's a couple or three weeks, then you have to bite the bullet a little bit because you're in discomfort, anyway,” Anderson told bloodhorse.com.

Rosario had been booked to ride through the weekend at Aqueduct, including on the Bill Mott-trained Olympiad in the G1 Cigar Mile.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. Transported To Hospital After Belmont Spill

Reigning champion jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. was placed on a flat board and transported to a hospital via ambulance following a spill in Thursday's fifth race at Belmont Park, according to NYRA analyst and former champion jockey Richard Migliore.

Ortiz's mount, Equal Pay, stumbled in the stretch and unseated the rider in the path of oncoming horses.

On the America's Day At The Races broadcast, Migliore said that after the race, both Jose Ortiz and Junior Alvarado “ran back up above the eighth pole to check on his condition and when (Jose) came back he said was he was moving everything, he's talking, did have some cuts and contusions because he was clipped by one of the trailing horses.… his brother seemed relieved that he was talking and moving everything. It's always a huge concern when a rider goes down, particularly when they are in the path of oncoming horses.”

NYRA's public relations man Keith McCalmont Tweeted that Ortiz is “awake and alert, moving all extremities, and will be transported to local hospital for further evaluation.”

Ortiz is named to ride in nine races on Friday and in all 13 races on Saturday's Belmont Stakes card, including Known Agenda for Todd Pletcher in the Belmont.

This story will be updated when more information is available.

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‘Tough Little Son Of A Gun’: Rocco Bowen Returns To The Winner’s Circle After Scary Fall

Two weeks after a horrific spill, jockey Rocco Bowen recorded his biggest career Oaklawn victory to date in Thursday's seventh race aboard She's Divine ($47.40) for trainer Mike Puhich and North American Thoroughbred Racing Company, Inc. The allowance/optional claimer for older fillies and mares at 1 mile had a $105,000 purse.

“I'm telling you, I feel so thankful,” Bowen's agent/mentor, retired jockey Joe Steiner, said moments after the victory. “I'm just so thankful.”

It was the ninth victory at the meet for Bowen, 31, riding at Oaklawn for the first time this year. Puhich, who has deep ties to the Pacific Northwest, also put Bowen on his first Oaklawn winner (Background) Feb. 27.

Bowen recorded six more victories before he was injured seconds after the final race April 8 when his mount, Critic, fell and hit the rail, sending the jockey crashing to the ground.

Bowen said he never lost consciousness, but he lay motionless for several minutes before being placed on a backboard and transported by ambulance to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs for further evaluation. No broken bones were found, Steiner said, and Bowen was released that night. Bowen fulfilled his engagements the following day, with the only visible sign of the accident a protective black brace on his sore left hand.

“He's a tough little son of a gun, I'll tell you,” Steiner said, adding he broke 39 bones in his riding career. “Well, you have to be, in this case.”

Steiner said Bowen will ride until the Oaklawn meeting ends May 1 before returning to Indiana Grand, which opened April 13. Bowen, a native of Barbados, became a riding star in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Emerald Downs in suburban Seattle, where he won three consecutive riding titles (2016, 2017 and 2018) before a training accident in September 2018, and subsequent debilitating arm injury, cost him approximately 1 ½ years in the saddle.

Bowen launched his comeback last June in the Midwest and won 39 races at Indiana Grand, including his 1,000^th in North America, to finish eighth in the standings. Steiner said he and Bowen plan to return to Oaklawn in 2022.

“The whole intention is to come back here,” Steiner said. “Now that I've been here, I'm so fortunate and so thankful that they've let agents come on the backside (easing of COVID-19 restrictions). It gave me the chance to get to meet some of these people. I didn't know a lot of these people and next year I'm looking at more and more. It's a matter of just building up more people to maybe get an opportunity with. I love working with people.”

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