Velazquez Injured
Jockey John Velazquez suffered two broken ribs and a fractured shoulder on Thursday when his mount, Up An Octave, broke down just yards past the wire after winning the Forerunner Stakes over the turf course at Keeneland. The horse fell, throwing Velazquez to ground, and rolled over the rider. Velazquez was taken to the University of Kentucky hospital for evaluation and X-rays and remained there overnight. “He’s pretty sore everywhere, but he’s very lucky,” said Angel Cordero, a retired Hall of Fame jockey and Velazquez’s agent. “That is one of the ugliest spills I’ve ever seen.”
With his injuries, Velazquez could be out for three to five months, and trainer Todd Pletcher will need to name a replacement rider for WinStar Farm’s Bluegrass Cat, who is still a possible Kentucky Derby starter. “We’re looking around [for a replacement] right now,” said WinStar vice president Elliott Walden. “We’re considering Ramon Dominguez, but it’s still undecided.”
Up An Octave, a three-year-old colt trained by Pletcher, sustained a compound fracture of his left foreleg and had to be euthanized on the track.
“It’s the nature of the business for the jock, the owner and trainer,” said jockey Willie Martinez, who finished well behind Velazquez in the Forerunner. “Here we are: ‘How was your day?’ ‘I won a stakes race, and three jumps after the wire I broke my shoulder and the horse was put down.'”
