Jockey Abel Cedillo will not require surgery for a fractured bone in his neck, reports the Daily Racing Form, which was incurred via a spill in the fourth race on Sunday at Del Mar. The injury will require four to six weeks of physical therapy.
Cedillo was aboard Get the Gold for trainer Kristin Mulhall in a one-mile maiden special weight race for California-breds when the colt was pinched badly coming out of the starting gate and fell, throwing the rider to the ground awkwardly. Get the Gold scrambled to his feet and was quickly apprehended, but Cedillo did not get up.
An ambulance positioned adjacent to the starting gate for the two-turn race – which began in front of the grandstand a short distance from the finish line – arrived shortly after the incident, but members of the starting gate crew were the first to attend to Cedillo. As the race continued, and medical personnel did not seem to take charge of the situation, the gate crew lifted Cedillo by his four limbs and carried him to the nearby winner's circle, thereby clearing the track and permitting the race to continue.
“I think it was a mistake,” Cedillo told DRF. “They shouldn't have touched me. They should have stopped the race.”
Josh Rubinstein, president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, declined to comment on whether safety protocols were properly followed, with the rider carried off the track as he was.
“Our number one priority is the safety for the rider and the horse,” Rubinstein said.
Cedillo, a native of Guatemala, has 1,594 career victories from 10,744 starts since kickinhg off his career in 2009. Among the horses he's ridden are G1 winners Mongolian Groom, Fighting Mad, Keeper Ofthe Stars, River Boyne and Maximum Security.
The post ‘They Should Have Stopped The Race’: Cedillo Suffers Neck Fracture In Del Mar Incident appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
