Jockey Mauro Cedillo was seriously injured the first race at Thistledown Racetrack on Monday, and has been taken to the Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland, where a media relations specialist confirmed he was being treated in the emergency room, but was unable to provide any further information.
The jockeys at Thistledown Racetrack voted to cancel the remainder of the racing card, according to a member of the Thistledown racing office.
Cedillo was aboard Spectacular Road, the 2-1 second choice and was on the lead a quarter-mile into the race when his horse took a bad step and unseated him at the three-eighths pole. He was thrown forward, and appeared to be struck by one or more horses who were behind him. The track condition was listed as muddy.
“It was the jockeys' decision to cancel racing,” said the official. “We have no update on the jockey right now. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance.”
The Equibase chart of the race reads, “Spectacular Road made the lead soon after the start, set the pace in the two path, stumbled entering the turn and unseated his rider.”
A spokesperson at the Cleveland Clinic-South Pointe Hospital said Cedillo was initially brought in, but was sent on to the Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland.
Cedillo started his career in 2021, riding 30 races without a win. In 2022 he had 70 winners from 509 starts, and has won 31 races so far this year, riding primarily at Thistledown. He is a native of Guatemela and is a cousin of jockey Abel Cedillo, who rides at Santa Anita.
Herbie Rivera Jr., the representative for the Jockeys' Guild in Ohio, said that Cedillo's agent, Luis Quinones, was at Metro Health Center with him.
Jockey agent Derek Lawson, who tried to persuade Cedillo to come to California to ride last year, described him as “a very nice young man. I tried to get him to come to California with the bug, and that never materialized because the people in Ohio wanted him to stay there. I got to speak to him quite a bit. He's a real good guy.”
Spectacular Road appeared to be uninjured.
This story will be updated.
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