Tag: People

Two of Penn National's leading riders, Tyler Conner and Dana Whitney, sustained injuries in a four-horse accident during the running of the third race Wednesday night at the Grantville, Pa., racetrack. One of the horses involved was euthanized.

Conner suffered a concussion when his mount, Siberian, went down with a cannon bone fracture, while Whitney has a broken shoulder and compound fracture of a femur after his mount, Jump Free, fell over Siberian on the turn of the six-furlong race for $5,000 claimers.

Two other riders, Yomar Ortiz and Vladimir Diaz, were dislodged from the saddle but not injured. A fifth horse took up and was eased. Five of the original 10 starters finished the race.

Siberian, owned and bred by Matthew Schera and trained by James Lawrence II, was euthanized. No other horses were injured, according to Eric Johnston, director of racing operations at Penn National.

Whitney will undergo surgery on his femur at noon on Thursday at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., his agent, John Krulock said.

“The break is right in the middle of the femur,” Krulock said. “It was completely separated. They were able to get the bone back together partially to go into the surgery. It's a really bad break.”

Krulock said the shoulder fracture is not a collarbone injury, something Whitney has broken before, and also will require surgery. He had no timetable for the rider's recovery period or possible return to racing.

A three-time leading rider at Penn National since 2010, Whitney is currently seventh in the standings, with 61 wins from 443 mounts. He has 4,268 lifetime wins from 26,745 mounts.

Conner, second in the standings during the current Penn National meet with 139 wins from 655 mounts, is expected to miss at least a week while he goes through concussion protocol, said his agent, Marty Salvaggio.

“Tyler was released from the hospital last night,” Salvaggio said. “Other than the concussion, he's OK. He'll go back to his family care provider and go through a concussion test with them to get an OK to return. I don't know how long that process will take, but we want to err on the side of caution.”

Salvaggio said Conner, who scored his 1,000th career victory in July, has suffered previous concussions but from a different kind of racing. Before taking out his apprentice license in 2014, Conner participated in motocross racing. He switched to horses after being convinced through a couple of accidents that motocross was too dangerous of a sport.

The post Whitney Suffers Compound Femur Fracture, Conner Has Concussion From Penn National Accident appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Raul Mena returned home Sunday, four days after suffering a fractured left femur when he was unseated from his mount on the turn for home in a race on the Tampa Bay Downs turf course in Oldsmar, Fla.

The day after the incident, the 30-year-old Chilean jockey underwent surgery at Tampa General Hospital to reset the fracture and have a titanium rod inserted with screws to keep the bone in place. He is able to get around the home he shares with his wife, Jaqueline, with the help of a walker.

“I'm still experiencing some pain, but I'm happy that it wasn't worse,” Mena said. “I'm very positive about the future. I might be ready to exercise horses in a few months, but I'm not putting pressure on myself to come back too soon.”

Mena retains his sense of humor after the accident. “That was the only bone I hadn't broken before, so now I'm complete,” he said.

“I understand what happened is part of the game,” he added. “We (the jockeys) all try to take care of each other, but things happen.”

Mena's horse, 4-year-old filly Hurry Up Dear, bumped another horse and stumbled, nearly falling herself and tossing Mena to the turf. The impact caused the bone to break, and Mena was attended to by paramedics before being transported to Tampa General.

Hurry Up Dear was able to complete the race without a jockey and returned to the backside unscathed.

Mena, who rode at Aqueduct in New York last winter, finished sixth at Delaware Park earlier this year with 39 winners. He missed three weeks in October after having his appendix removed.

He had one winner locally from 14 starts, with a second and four thirds. He has ridden 298 winners since coming to the United States from Chile in 2015.

Mena is appreciative of the large volume of calls and messages he has received from well-wishers since his accident, as well as the support he has received from the Jockeys' Guild, Tampa Bay Downs and, of course, Jaqueline. “This is not the first time she has had to take care of me,” he said.

The post Raul Mena On The Mend After Fracturing Femur In Tampa Bay Downs Spill appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Paco Lopez rode Smart Spending for a victory in Wednesday's Gulfstream Park opener in his first ride back from a successful weekend trip to Venezuela.

Lopez rode Mexican-bred Iniesta to a win in the $500,000 Clasico del Caribe at La Rinconada.

“It was my first time riding in Venezuela. I got the offer from Mexico to ride what looked like the best horse in the race,” Lopez said. “There were 30,000 people screaming. It was fun for all of us jockeys,”

Lopez ventured from Gulfstream to Venezuela for Sunday's multi-race Clasico Internacional del Caribe, along with Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose Ortiz, Emisael Jaramillo and Miguel Vasquez.

Irad and Jose Ortiz, who enjoyed success in the Clasico event for Caribbean horses when it was hosted by Gulfstream for three renewals, also rode in Venezuela for the first time. Both were winners Sunday, Irad on Templario in the Invitacional del Caribe and on Sharapova in the Copa Confraternidad del Caribe, and Jose on Futuro in the Copa Velocidad del Caribe.

“It's crazy there. The people there support the sport there, big time. When you're over there, a jockey is like a baseball player,” Irad Ortiz Jr. said Wednesday.

The post Paco Lopez Makes Successful Return To Gulfstream After Clasico Del Caribe Win In Venezuela appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The trademark smile remains, but jockey Ricardo Santana's return to Oaklawn comes with some notable changes since the 2021-2022 meeting began last December.

Now 30, Santana said he's no longer driven to win titles in Hot Springs, is riding again for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and has a new agent, Jimmy Riccio.

Santana's 671 victories at Oaklawn – seventh-highest career total in history – and eight local riding titles were all with Ruben Munoz, the agent/second father who brought the jockey from his native Panama to the United States in 2009.

Munoz said last spring he was taking a break and that Matt Muzikar, the agent for nationally prominent jockey Tyler Gaffalione, would have Santana's book in Kentucky. The move left Santana's status for the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting in doubt.

“Not sure,” Santana said Sept. 1 at Kentucky Downs, when asked if he was returning to Oaklawn. “Want to. That's my hometown.”

Five days later, Riccio announced he would begin representing Santana at the Churchill Downs September meeting. Riccio was seeking an A-list rider after losing 2017 Eclipse Award winner Jose Ortiz roughly a month earlier.

The Santana/Riccio partnership has produced, to date, 29 victories, including five stakes, at four tracks (Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Zia Park and Turfway Park).

“I'm really happy working right now with Riccio,” Santana said after getting on horses Monday morning at Oaklawn. “He's a really great guy. We're doing pretty good. We've won a few stakes already. I'm really excited working with the guy.”

Monday marked Santana's first day at Oaklawn in preparation for the 2022-2023 meeting that began Dec. 9. Santana missed the opening three days because of a suspension related to a careless riding infraction last April at Oaklawn and to ride in the Clasico del Caribe last Sunday in Venezuela, a trip scrubbed at the 11^th hour because of administrative paperwork, the jockey said.

Santana is named on 15 horses over next three racing days at Oaklawn, where he has dominated the standings the last decade. Four of the horses are for Asmussen. Santana had been a go-to rider for the 12-time Oaklawn training champion before he began going in other directions in the fall of 2021. Asmussen used 2021 Eclipse Award winner Joel Rosario extensively during the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting, but is now turning again to Santana. Santana, for example, regained the mount on Echo Zulu and guided the Eclipse Award winner to a victory in the $275,000 Dogwood Stakes (G3) Sept. 24 at Churchill Downs and a runner-up finish in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

Santana and Asmussen have teamed for 320 victories at Oaklawn, a collaboration that fueled the jockey's first local riding title in 2013. Santana was also Oaklawn's leading rider in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. He was second in 2019 and third last season. Cristian Torres, another former Munoz client, tops the early Oaklawn rider standings with seven victories.

“To be honest, I really don't worry much about the title because I've won eight already here,” Santana said. “I'm looking forward to getting good horses, more than the title. I'm riding back for Steve. He's given me a lot of good opportunities. I've got a few nice babies for him that I'll be riding. I'm looking forward to getting on good horses for the future.”

Among Santana's 671 victories at Oaklawn, 46 have been stakes. He is Oaklawn's all-time leader in purse earnings for a jockey ($36,173,766) and set the single-season mark ($5,643,023) in 2021. Santana began riding at Oaklawn in 2011.

Riccio also represents New York-based rider Kendrick Carmouche.

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