Rough going early on Haskell card

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Two jockeys were injured, one horse was euthanized, and three of the biggest turf stakes of the meeting were moved to the main track Sunday on a rainy Haskell Day at Monmouth Park.

Jockey Fabrizio Jimenez suffered multiple fractures of his right leg, a fractured right hip, and a possible ankle fracture after his mount, Ballado Alert clipped heels with another horse entering the first turn of the fourth race. Jimenez was taken to Jersey Shore Trauma Center in Neptune for evaluation and probable surgery.

There was no report immediately available on Ballado Alert.

One race later, in a race run over a sloppy main track, jockey Pedro Cotto was unseated when his horse, Tale of Victory, suffered a fatal breakdown to a front leg down the backside. Cotto was sent to Jersey Shore Trauma Center for precautionary X-rays of his abdomen and back, according to Dr. Angelo Chinnici, Medical Director at Monmouth Park.

Tale of Victory was euthanized.

Although the rain appeared to stop by 3 p.m., the jockeys contended that the turf course was unsafe for the program's three remaining grass stakes. The $100,000 Jersey Derby as well as the Matchmaker Stakes and Oceanport Handicap - the latter both Grade 3, $200,000 races - were taken off the turf and moved to the sealed, sloppy main track.

The Jersey Derby scratched down to a four-horse field and was won by Endymion, who prevailed over 2-5 favorite Despite the Odds.

The Matchmaker scratched down to a five-horse field - Closeout, Rutherienne, and Ariege scratched - while the Oceanport was down to four horses after losing Roman Tiger, Radical Sabbatical, and Proudinsky.