Gunn, jockey, paralyzed

Jockey Remi Gunn suffered severe spinal damage in a Wednesday spill at Ellis Park and is paralyzed from the waist down, according to several friends who visited her Thursday in Henderson Methodist Hospital.

Gunn, 43, was riding Betty Sue in the fourth race when the filly fell at the quarter pole after appearing to clip heels. After the filly appeared to roll over Gunn, a trailing rival also appeared to step on Gunn.

Gunn, a single mother of three young children, won 12 races from 262 mounts in her career. She had come to Ellis Park only recently. In recent years, her primary source of income has come from a training and boarding farm she owns in the central Florida town of Citron.

Gunn is tentatively scheduled to be transported to Miami for surgery, according to veteran jockey Jon Court, one of the many people in the racing community who visited Gunn in the hospital.

"We're all saddened by this," said Court. "Remi is facing some very serious spiritual and emotional issues."

Meanwhile, jockey Greta Kuntzweiler, whose mount, She's Got It, threw her when falling over Betty Sue, suffered a separated shoulder. Kuntzweiler is expected to miss about six weeks with her injury.