Keeneland: Jockey Straight sustains shoulder injury in spill

LEXINGTON – Jockey Matthew Straight was admitted to first aid under his own power at Keeneland after he fell from a horse in the fifth race that attempted to leap over the inner rail of the turf course.

Family members with Straight as he was driven in the back of an ambulance to the first aid station located near the tunnel from the paddock to the track said that he “had a shoulder injury” but that he was “going to be fine.”

Straight was later sent to University of Kentucky Medical Center for “further evaluation,” according to Dr. Barry Schumer, Keeneland’s medical director. At the time he was treated at Keeneland, he was “awake and responsive, and complaining of left shoulder pain,” Schumer said.

Straight fell from the longshot Maid On a Mission in deep stretch when the horse suddenly veered to the left and attempted to jump over the rail. The horse collided with the rail before struggling over it, sending Straight to the turf.

Maid On a Mission, a 3-year-old filly making her second start in the maiden special weight, ran free on the turf course for several minutes before being collared by outriders. The horse was walked back to her barn with no apparent injury, and Dr. Bryce Peckham, the Kentucky state veterinarian, later said the filly “suffered minor injuries.”

Michael Straight, Matthew’s twin brother, was paralyzed in a spill in 2009 at Arlington Park. Michael Straight was at Keeneland on Sunday, and, after the fall, he escorted other family members to the rail at the main track. While waiting for word of his brother, he reassured family members that he believed Matthew would be fine.