Gaffalione most likely to miss riding Triple Crown season
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There’s never a good time for a jockey to get injured, but the broken left ankle suffered by Tyler Gaffalione earlier this week at Gulfstream Park seemingly couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Gaffalione was scheduled to meet with doctors on Friday to discuss a plan of action on how to deal with the injury. Before that meeting took place, Matt Muzikar, Gaffalione’s agent, said he believes his rider will miss two months.
That would mean most likely missing the entire Triple Crown season. Equally as important, Gaffalione will miss the Keeneland spring meet that begins next Friday. Since 2021, Gaffalione has been the leading rider at six of the eight meets held at Keeneland. He finished third at last year’s spring meet and second at the fall 2022 session.
Muzikar said he was speaking with Gaffalione Thursday night about the upcoming Keeneland meet.
“You don’t want to discuss that, trust me,” Muzikar said he told Gaffalione. “He said, ‘It wasn’t any good?’ I said the problem is it was too good.”
As far as stakes go, Gaffalione will miss rides on the likes of East Avenue (Blue Grass), Carl Spackler (Maker’s Mark Mile), Emery (Madison), Extra Anejo (Commonwealth), Lush Lips (Appalachian), and Coppola (Shakertown), just to name a few.
“I was loaded,” Muzikar said.
Gaffalione was injured Wednesday when a horse he had picked up due to the injury suffered by Junior Alvarado on Sunday acted up in the post parade, pinning Gaffalione’s ankle against the rail. Gaffalione was taken to a local hospital. The horse, China Blue , was not injured and ran third in the race with Emisael Jaramillo aboard.
Muzikar said though X-rays revealed the break, he said the outward signs of the injury are not readily apparent.
“There’s no discoloration to it and the inflammation just outside the ball of his ankle is very little,” Muzikar said. “The doctor I spoke with said that’s a good thing. He’ll possibly heal faster.”
According to Muzikar, this is the first time Gaffalione, 30, has suffered a significant injury since he began riding in 2014. He missed a couple of weeks at last fall’s Churchill meet due to a foot injury.
“He’s bummed. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Muzikar said.
Though Thursday, Gaffalione ranked second nationally for the year in purse money won with $4.1 million. His 73 wins in 2025 rank fifth. At Gulfstream, where the winter meet ends Sunday, Gaffalione was the second lead rider in wins with 73. The meet began last Thanksgiving Day.
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