Rossi shows improvement

Jockey Oriana Rossi has made progress since suffering critical injuries to her back in a spill July 22 at Indiana Grand, but her long-term outlook remains uncertain, and Rossi still might be paralyzed from the waist down, according to trainer Tim Glyshaw.

Glyshaw and his wife and assistant, Natalie, have a long-standing relationship with Rossi, 32, who galloped horses for them before taking out her jockey’s license in 2009. Rossi’s first mount was trained by Glyshaw.

Rossi was riding Top Priority in the fifth race July 22 at Indiana Grand when she fell over Divine Thunder after that horse, ridden by Alex Contreras, clipped heels with the pacesetting Wildcat Country. Rossi sustained multiple fractures to her back and neck and had surgery the following day.

Rossi, who is at Indiana University Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, was taken off a breathing tube and ventilator on Monday, according to Glyshaw.

“She recognized people and talked a little bit, but she had a little bit of a rough night Monday after being weaned from pain medication,” Glyshaw said. “The story still is the same: There’s a hematoma and blood clot causing pressure on her spinal cord. Hopefully, once that goes down she can regain some feeling in her lower extremities. They want to get her off the pain meds before doing a battery of tests and making a final assessment.”

Contreras also fractured his back in the accident, though his injuries reportedly are much less severe than Rossi’s.

Jockey Francisco Torres didn’t go down in the accident but was struck in the foot by a hoof, took off the rest of his mounts that day, and has a fractured bone in his left foot. But Torres said he thinks the fracture might be an old injury. He worked the stakes-winning turf sprinter Channel Marker on Monday and plans to ride Friday at Ellis Park.

“My foot’s a little tender, but I’m going to go ahead and try to ride Friday,” said Torres.

Torres said he was angling out away from the heart of the incident when the chain reaction took place, and that Contreras’s mount “just barely missed me.”

Glyshaw has started a web page with the Gofundme site to help with Rossi’s medical expenses. That page can be found at www.gofundme.com/3b7qbkw4w.