Jockeys largely escape injury in five-horse spill

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Eddie Castro was "body-slam sore," but otherwise not seriously hurt, and four other riders also appeared to escape serious injury after a gruesome five-horse spill Wednesday at Aqueduct.

Castro, 23, was the only one of the five jockeys immediately transported to the hospital after the spill in which his mount, Private Details, broke her left foreleg approaching the quarter pole of the second race. The spill started a chain reaction in which four other horses unseated their riders in a race where only two horses finished.

Jockeys Anna Napravnik (back pain) and Victor Santiago (contusions on head and knee) took off their remaining mounts, while Ramon Dominguez and Joseph Berrios completed the card.

Private Details had to be euthanized, but the other four horses in the spill were reported by track officials to be okay.

According to his agent, Mike Gonzalez, Castro was just "body-slam sore, but the X-rays were clean." Gonzalez said Castro, who was released from Jamaica Hospital and Medical Center by 3:30 p.m., intended to wait until Thursday morning to decide whether he would ride that day's card.

Napravnik was the last of five to be unseated when her mount, One Dream Union, fell over another horse. She took off her remaining three mounts Wednesday complaining of back pain. Napravnik suffered a broken back in 2007. Her agent, Bob Klesaris, said he would most likely send Napravnik to a local hospital for X-rays before allowing her to ride again.

Victor Santiago had a contusion on his head and knee and took off his one remaining mount.

Dominguez, meanwhile, rode the final seven races on the card, and won the seventh and ninth as part of a three-win day.

"I already felt like a winner when I saw all my friends made it back okay," said Dominguez, who has 90 wins for the meet. "Anything you get the rest of the day is a plus."