Eramia to miss a few weeks with broken thumb

Jockey Richard Eramia sustained a small fracture to his right thumb in the most serious injury to four riders involved in a Friday spill at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City. The incident happened in the sixth race.

Eramia, who returned to his home around 9:30 p.m. Central on Friday after spending several hours at Willis-Knighton Medical Center in Shreveport, La., said fellow riders Hector Del-Cid, Gerardo Mora, and Erica Murray also went to the hospital Friday.

“Everyone went to the hospital, but nobody got [seriously] hurt,” Eramia said. “Everybody is OK.”

Eramia said he will miss the next few weeks. He will be based this winter at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Eramia has wrapped up the riding title at the Louisiana Downs meet that closes Saturday.

“I’m good,” he said late Friday. “I’m a little sore, but nothing bad happened.”

Eramia was said to have hit the ground hardest during the spill that occurred in the stretch run Friday. Louisiana Downs released the following statement:

“As the horses approached the final eighth of a mile in race 6 today, two horses clipped heels with each other, causing them to fall. This created a chain reaction where a total of four horses fell.”

At the time the statement was released, the track had no updates on the riders.