Espinoza will miss rest of Del Mar meet

DEL MAR, Calif. – Victor Espinoza, the Hall of Fame jockey who fractured a vertebra in an accident Sunday morning at Del Mar, will miss the remainder of the meeting, his agent, Brian Beach, said Monday afternoon.

Beach said Espinoza would be required to wear a neck brace for the next six weeks, “more to remind him not to turn his head sideways suddenly.” Espinoza is at Scripps La Jolla Hospital, where he is expected to remain for several more days, Beach said.

Espinoza has feeling in all his limbs and doctors are encouraged that he’s going to make a full recovery, Beach said.

“His left arm, which had the stinger, is still sensitive to the touch,” Beach said. “The doctors want him to lay still, thinking that with rest that should calm down. They think he’s going to be completely fine.”

According to Beach, the fracture was to the transverse process to Espinoza’s C-3 vertebra.

“The doctors didn’t seem that concerned, but they want to make sure, and part of that is letting him rest until the nerves calm down,” Beach said.

Espinoza, 46, fractured the C-3 vertebra when he fell heavily to the ground in the stretch when his mount, the stakes-winning sprinter Bobby Abu Dhabi, was fatally stricken from what appeared to be a sudden cardiac event during a workout.

Espinoza had his neck immobilized by attending medical personnel and was placed on a backboard. He then was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was diagnosed, and where he spent Sunday night.

In addition to the neck fracture, Espinoza had some initial numbness in his left arm, which Beach described as similar to a “stinger” suffered by football players.

Beach said Espinoza “got lucky” that he wasn't more seriously injured.

Espinoza, who began his career in his native Mexico, is best known in racing for winning the Triple Crown in 2015 aboard American Pharoah, and he attained wider public celebrity by competing on that year’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Espinoza has won 3,358 races, including three runnings of the Kentucky Derby. He is one of only 10 jockeys to have won the Derby at least three times.

This year, Espinoza has been the regular rider for Accelerate, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup at Santa Anita, who is scheduled to make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic here on Aug. 18.

Accelerate will now need a new rider for the Pacific Classic.

Bobby Abu Dhabi, 4, was third in the Grade 2 True North Stakes at Belmont Park in his last start on June 8. His work Sunday was scheduled to be his final one in preparation for a start in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on Saturday at Del Mar.

Bobby Abu Dhabi won the Grade 2 Kona Gold earlier this year at Santa Anita and also was second in the Grade 1 Triple Bend. He was trained by Peter Miller. A son of Macho Uno, Bobby Abu Dhabi won 4 of 9 starts and $375,100. He was owned by the David Bernsen and the Rockingham Ranch of Gary Hartunian.