HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jose Ortiz left the paddock aboard a mare named Zeven with a smile on his face prior to the ninth race Monday. And for good reason: Moments earlier, Ortiz had escaped injury despite having been thrown hard to the track when his mount, Double Cabernet, broke down at the top of the stretch.
“I am okay, thank God,” Ortiz said.
Two other jockeys, Carlos Jimenez and apprentice Aby Medina, also were dislodged from their mounts in the incident, and they, too, were uninjured.
Double Cabernet, trained by Peter Walder, had to be euthanized.