Dance With Fate's rider faces long recovery
Exercise rider Joe Duran, who was unseated from Dance With Fate during a training accident Thursday, faces a recovery of four to six months for fractured vertebrae and broken ribs, trainer Peter Eurton said Friday.
Duran was scheduled to undergo surgery on his back Friday, Eurton said.
Eurton said he visited Duran in the hospital Thursday evening. He said Duran’s injuries could heal with time but that an operation will quicken the recovery.
Duran was aboard Dance With Fate during an early-morning gallop Thursday when an equipment failure led to the colt’s bridle coming off. Duran was unseated. Dance With Fate ran freely and struck the outside fence on the main track, suffering severe injuries to a stifle.
Dance With Fate, who won the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes in April and was sixth in the Kentucky Derby, was euthanized later Thursday as a result of the injury. He had been entered in Saturday’s $200,000 San Diego Handicap.