Bad luck is starting to haunt jockey Jill Jellison the way it did Red Pollard, another famous former New England rider. While Pollard had Seabiscuit, Jellison - the fourth all-time leading female jockey by wins - will be happy just to get back to racing at Suffolk Downs after breaking her left arm in a training accident Wednesday morning.
The injury came when a horse Jellison was jogging spooked near the quarter pole, dumping her off the safety rail and into a deep concrete ditch. She underwent surgery Wednesday night at Massachusetts General Hospital, where doctors used a plate and three screws to stabilize the compound fracture.
Jellison was two months into her latest comeback from a broken foot suffered in a gate mishap at Tampa Bay Downs this winter. She is now stuck on 1,799 career wins - just 34 behind Cindy Murphy, who passed her earlier this year.
"She's had such bad luck," trainer Bobby Raymond said Thursday. Raymond is Jellison's companion and the man who got the jockey started in racing on his Rhode Island farm in the early 1980's.
"First she broke her foot at Suffolk, then when it happened again at Tampa, it was a different bone," Raymond said. "She had to start all over again. I'm not sure how much more she wants to take. It will depend on what the doctors say. The guy last night didn't sound like riding again was 100 percent."
Raymond said not having Jellison around the barn means "the team is missing a vital tool," but it did allow the two to joke about another unlucky incident recently.
"A couple weeks ago, her car got wrecked when another car blew out a tire," said Raymond. "She spent all this money to get it fixed, and a couple days ago another jockey backs right into it in the parking lot. We're laughing now, but she's got to get some good luck soon."
Pollard rode Seabiscuit 30 times, including to a win in the 1937 Massachusetts Handicap, but he, too, was plagued by mishaps, including an accident at Suffolk Downs in 1938 that kept him from riding in the famous match race against Triple Crown winner War Admiral in that year's Pimlico Special.
Top honor to be revealed at dinner
The New England Turf Writers Awards Dinner on Monday night will feature the announcement of the James B. Moseley Horse of the Year, divisional awards, and induction ceremonies for the local Hall of Fame.
The divisional winners have been known since the end of the 2005 season, but the horse of the year announcement is withheld until the dinner.
Star Massachusetts-bred Ask Queenie is the leading candidate to take the honor to go along with her awards top New England-bred and top turf horse in the region.
This year's Hall of Fame inductees are Mom's Command, the 1985 triple tiara winner; jockey Carl Gambardella; and Rockingham Park's founder, Lou Smith.
Tickets for the dinner, to be held at the Danversport Yacht Club in Danvers, Mass., are on sale for $60 each with full 10-person tables also available by calling 617-568-3220.