Alvarado hurt, will miss start of Belmont meet
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jockey Junior Alvarado will miss the start of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet after he was involved in a spill Sunday at Aqueduct.
Alvarado landed on his left shoulder when his mount in the fifth race, Flatterfly, broke down at the three-sixteenths pole of the seven-furlong dirt race. Flatterfly, a 3-year-old daughter of Flatter trained by Gary Contessa, had to be euthanized after fracturing her right front ankle.
Alvarado was taken to a Long Island hospital, where X-rays on his shoulder showed no fractures. However, last December, Alvarado had surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn rotator cuff. He missed three months, returning on March 17.
Alvarado was to undergo an MRI on Tuesday and then go over the results with his doctor on Thursday. In the meantime, Alvarado’s agent, Mike Sellitto, said doctors told him “to be on the safe side, take off a couple of weeks and let it calm down.”
Alvarado was named on three horses for Friday’s opening-day card at Belmont.
Since returning to race-riding last month, Alvarado rode 11 winners from 57 mounts, including a victory on Secretary At War in Saturday’s $100,000 Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct.
