Jockey Cedillo taken to hospital after one-horse spill at Del Mar
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DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockey Abel Cedillo was transported to a local hospital on Sunday afternoon after he was involved in a one-horse spill shortly after the start of the fourth race at Del Mar.
Cedillo was complaining of pain in his neck and was scheduled to undergo X-rays late Sunday afternoon, according to a track official.
Cedillo was injured after his mount, Get the Gold, clipped heels when the runner to his outside, Silver N Black, drifted inside sharply at the start.
Cedillo fell heavily and clutched his left shoulder and neck area with his right hand while laying on the track. Cedillo was on the track briefly before members of the gate crew picked him up and quickly carried him into the adjacent winner’s circle.
“Our number one priority is the safety for the rider and the horse,” track president Josh Rubinstein said in response to the action of the gate crew.
In the winner’s circle, Cedillo was attended to by ambulance personnel who fitted the rider with a neck brace and placed him on a stretcher. Cedillo was immediately transported to a local hospital for tests.
Because Cedillo was unseated in front of the stands, track stewards said they were closely monitoring the rider’s condition and were discussing a potential abandonment of the race when gate crew members moved the rider, they said.
Had Cedillo not been moved, the race would have been cancelled. The field of eight remaining runners passed near the area in which Cedillo had fallen as they neared the finish.
The race, run at a mile for maidens, had two disqualifications, one related to the incident at the start.
Dont Fight the Fed finished first by a nose over Cowboy Mike, but was disqualified and placed second for making contact with Cowboy Mike in early stretch.
In a unanimous decision, the stewards said the contact Dont Fight the Fed made with Cowboy Mike and the margin at the finish were the reasons for the disqualification.
The stewards also disqualified Silver N Black from third to unplaced because of the incident at the start involving Get the Gold.
Cedillo has won 25 races from 203 mounts this year. He had a slow start to 2023, winning 11 races through the end of May, but greater success in recent months, winning eight races in June and six races this month. He had two wins over the weekend at Del Mar, which opened its summer season on Friday.
Cedillo won Sunday’s second race, a main track sprint for $20,000 claimers, on Colonel Vargo.
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