Woodbine exercise rider dies in training accident

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Exercise rider Darren Fortune died in a freak training accident on Woodbine’s main track Friday.

Shortly after 7 a.m. Eastern, Fortune was on a horse who bolted while galloping out after a work and collided with another horse who was jogging the other way on the first turn. He was subsequently transported by paramedics to the hospital, where he died. No horses were injured.

Fortune, 43, doubled as an outrider for Woodbine during the races and was a valued employee, according to Jamie Martin, Woodbine Entertainment’s executive vice president of racing.

“He was a very experienced, capable, qualified horseman,” Martin said. “He was a great rider. He kept everybody safe in the afternoon. This is just a terrible incident. It was just one of those fluke things where he just couldn’t correct his horse.”

Fortune was the main exercise rider for trainer Nick Gonzalez.

“Between being a horseman, a rider, and an outrider, he touched so many people,” Gonzalez said. “He was always so helpful in the interest of safety. That’s the devastating part of it. He was getting on 10 or 11 horses a day. He did most of our gate work and workouts. In most cases, we didn’t even need jockeys because he was so light and so good.”

Friday’s eight-race card at Woodbine was canceled, and racing was scheduled to resume Saturday.