Jockeys escape serious injury after spill

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockeys Tyler Baze, Emily Ellingwood, Cesar Ortega, and Tiago Pereira were briefly hospitalized Sunday after escaping serious injuries in a frightening seven-horse spill in Sunday’s seventh race at Del Mar.

Baze and Ortega have chosen to rest in coming days and weeks, their agents said Monday. Pereira was scheduled to meet with a doctor Monday or Tuesday for further examination of a hip.

None of the horses involved in the incident appeared to suffer injuries, according to a track official.

Baze will not ride the forthcoming four-day racing week at Del Mar from Thursday through Sunday, according to his agent, Jack Carava. Baze told Carava he was experiencing body soreness Monday.

“He’s going to take this week off,” Carava said. “Hopefully, he’ll resume next week.”

Ortega will not ride the remainder of the Del Mar meeting, which ends Sept. 6, according to his agent, Patty Sterling. The apprentice jockey will return to riding when the Los Alamitos meeting begins Sept. 10.

Ortega was involved in a one-horse spill last Friday when his mount ducked to the inside shortly after the start of a sprint.

“It might be a good time to recover,” Sterling said.

Pereira, also represented by Sterling, has one mount Thursday and five on Friday.

Ellingwood was at Del Mar on Monday morning to work a horse. She does not ride Thursday and has one mount Friday.

In an interview Monday, Ellingwood said she had body soreness and a bruised rotator cuff, but that a CT-scan was clear.

The incident occurred as the field neared the three-eighths pole during a $20,000 claiming race for maidens at six furlongs.

Sassy Chasey, ridden by Diego Herrera, was running in third place when he clipped heels with Katie’s Paradise, who was disputing the pace.

Sassy Chasey fell, unseating Herrera. Whiskey Blue (ridden by Kyle Frey), Corners Up (Juan Espinoza), Phoenix Tears (Pereira), and Renegade Princess (Baze) were brought down behind Sassy Chasey. Ortega, riding Backtoflash, and Ellingwood, on Siena Silk, were farther back in the field and were unseated.

Of the 12 runners in the race, five finished. Some horses without riders continued at the back of the field to the finish while a few others ran down the backstretch before they were caught.

With several jockeys receiving medical attention on the track, Espinoza, Frey, Herrera, and Pereira walked to the jockey’s room through the infield.

Ellingwood said there was little time to react as the incident occurred.

“I was removing one pair of goggles when it happened,” she said. “I saw horses flipping. I saw an opening on the rail and tried to go for that, but horses started backing up and going down.”

Ellingwood said she planned to “take a couple of days off” from morning activity later this week to recover.

The race was declared a no-contest by stewards Grant Baker, Luis Jauregui, and Kim Sawyer. In the decision, they cited a California Horse Racing Board rule that states “stewards may declare a race no contest if mechanical failure or interference during the running of the race affects the majority of horses in such race.”

Baze, Ellingwood, and Ortega were transported by ambulance from the track. Pereira requested an ambulance after returning to the jockey’s room and experiencing soreness, Sterling said.

The incident occurred a day after Pereira rode Tripoli to a win in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Saturday, the rider’s first Grade 1 win in the United States.