Francisco “Cisco” Torres said Saturday he’s retiring from a long and successful but frequently troubled career as a jockey. Torres, 48, broke his neck for the fourth time in a bad spill this past spring at Fair Grounds, but returned to action in October at Indiana Grand and was set to ride the Fair Grounds meet this winter. Doctors had told Torres that a fall of any kind could, because of his surgically repaired spine, lead to paralysis or death, and after a close call in the Thanksgiving Handicap, Torres reassessed his situation. Torres’ mount in the race, Mesoma, broke down in midstretch, and while Torres managed to keep the stricken horse on his feet, the incident altered his perspective. “That changed my process and led to this retiring,” Torres said. “I’m on to the next chapter of my life.” Torres, who was en route from Indiana to New Orleans on Saturday, said he hoped to soon become a jockey’s agent. “I’d like to find an apprentice and mentor him,” he said. Torres was born in Mexico City but was raised on the West Side of Chicago. His father sometimes walked hots at Hawthorne Race Course, and it was through that connection that Torres got started riding. He learned his craft as a teenager, began riding unsanctioned races in Illinois when he was 14, and officially launched his career in 1986. Torres won 3,194 races from 23,012 mounts, but could easily have surpassed 5,000 winners had his career followed a different arc. Alcohol and drugs bedeviled Torres, and after incurring multiple suspensions, he was ruled off racecourses by Churchill Downs stewards in 2000. Torres went to Saudi Arabia as a contract jockey and eventually was permitted to resume riding in the U.S. in 2004. Torres had an unfortunate propensity for getting hurt, and in the end lost more time from injuries than self-inflicted harm, but even this fall, after going through so much, his desire to compete still burned. “I was ready to give it my all, but after Thanksgiving, ‘what if, what if,’ was on my mind,” he said. “It was time to walk away while I can. I’m not Cisco out there anymore.”