Gaffalione to return from broken ankle on opening day at Ellis Park

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, sidelined since late March with a broken ankle, was named on six mounts when the July 3 opening day card at Ellis Park was drawn Thursday.

Gaffalione hasn’t ridden since March 27 at Gulfstream Park, where he was injured when the horse he was riding acted up during the post parade and managed to smash Gaffalione’s lower leg into the rail. Gaffalione only picked up that ride because Junior Alvarado, named to ride the horse, had been injured the previous weekend at Gulfstream. Alvarado returned in time to win the Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty, while Gaffalione missed the entire Triple Crown and three months of action.

Gaffalione, 30, was a 2024 Eclipse Award finalist, though his top year by earnings came in 2023, when his mounts earned purses with slightly less than $30 million.

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