Apprentice jockey Gracia upgraded to stable condition after Aqueduct spill

Apprentice jockey Jason Gracia was upgraded from critical to stable condition Sunday morning, but he remained in the Intensive Care Unit at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center with several injuries that will keep out of the saddle indefinitely, his agent, Jorge Velasquez, said.

Gracia, 28, suffered a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and a hairline fracture in his neck as the result of a spill during the running of Saturday’s third race at Aqueduct. He was to be further evaluated later on Sunday, and the hope was that he would be moved out of the ICU and into a regular room, Velasquez said. Gracia will most likely have to spend several days in the hospital, Velasquez added.

Velasquez said that doctors were hopeful of removing the tubes in Gracia’s chest that were required Saturday to drain fluid from his lungs.

Meanwhile, jockey Jose Bermudez, also involved in the spill, told the New York Racing Association communications department that he was released from North Shore Medical Center with bruised ribs and that he would most likely be out of action for one week.

Gracia was aboard Ryan and Jack in a New York-bred maiden turf race when that horse fell, apparently after clipping heels with another horse, and Gracia was hurled to the turf. Bermudez was unseated when his mount, October Dreams, barreled into Ryan and Jack, who suffered a fractured skull and had to be euthanized. October Dreams got up and was uninjured.