ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- Apprentice sensation Pietro Moran had successful back surgery after he was injured in a spill on Tuesday at Fort Erie, according to his father, jockey David Moran.

“He’s doing well,” David Moran said. “He had surgery [Wednesday]. He fractured a vertebra, so he just had to get that fused. There’s no damage to the [spinal] cord. The doctor was very happy with it. He said everything went without complications. They did a great job. He’s just recovering now. They say he should be up and about in a few days.”

Apprentice jockey Chris Elliott, the 18-year-old son of Kentucky Derby winning rider Stewart Elliott, had the first two-win day of his career Wednesday at Parx, booting home 15-1 Midnight Act and then 41-1 shot Whiskey Prize.

That success couldn’t have come at a better time.

Elliott plans to split his time this fall and winter between Aqueduct and Parx. He is named on 11 horses over the first three days of the Belmont at the Big A meet that starts Friday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y.  -- Mertkan Kantarmaci is only 33 years old but the stress of being a horse trainer these days has prompted him to take step away from the job.

After he runs Evvie Jets in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland on Oct. 5, Kantarmaci will no longer train horses. In New York, where he has been primarily based since 2019, Kantarmaci has turned over his 27-horse stable to his brother Ilkay.

Hong Kong Harry, the winner of four graded stakes on turf in California in 2022 and 2023, is nearing a return to training at Santa Anita, trainer Phil D’Amato said earlier this week.

Hong Kong Harry, 7, has not raced since he finished second by a half-length to stablemate Easter in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar last November.

D’Amato said Hong Kong Harry did not require surgery during his absence.

“He just needed time off,” D’Amato said.

Jockey Geovanni Franco, who has not ridden since July 26 at Del Mar after sustaining a shoulder injury in a spill, will have a delayed return.

Franco is currently undergoing physical therapy on his knee that has taken longer than expected to respond to treatment, according to his agent Jack Carava. Franco has recovered from the shoulder injury, Carava said.

“He’s doing some physical therapy on his knee,” Carava said. “I think it will be a little longer, maybe another month. It’s a matter of going by how it feels for him.”

After a course-record performance in the Grade 2 Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 31, Ag Bullet could reappear this fall in a variety of races, including two diverse Grade 2 stakes – the $750,000 Eddie D Stakes against males at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, or the $300,000 Goldikova Stakes against fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Apprentice jockey Pietro Moran won’t ride at Woodbine this week after he was injured in the last race on Tuesday’s Prince of Wales Stakes card at Fort Erie. 

Moran reportedly injured his back and arm when unseated aboard Mister Meseeks on the far turn in the $5,000 claimer on the main track. 

Moran ranks third in the Woodbine jockey standings with 55 victories and leads all apprentices in wins at the meet. The 18-year-old has won two stakes, including last Saturday’s Niagara on Lac Macaza. He had calls in several stakes this weekend at Woodbine. 

The average purse at the recently completed Kentucky Downs meet soared 48.8 percent compared to the same figure last year, according to an analysis conducted by Daily Racing Form.

Kentucky Downs, which ran seven all-turf cards this year, distributed a total of $37.3 million in purses, including bonuses for horses eligible for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, for an average of $490,789 per race, by far the highest total of any North American track in history. Purses at the track are heavily subsidized by revenues from casinos operated by the track’s owners.