Veteran rider Mike Luzzi broke his right ankle June 19 in a pre-race incident aboard Breaking Stones ahead of the eighth race at Belmont Park.
"He fractured his right ankle and will need surgery. He will probably be out about six to eight weeks," said Luzzi's agent Mike Monroe. "He said the horse acted up at the gate and when he jumped off the horse, it was just the way he landed that caused it."
Luzzi was scheduled to ride six mounts on the June 20 card and another four on the June 24 card.
The 51-year-old Luzzi, a native of Wilmington, Del., won the 1989 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. Additional honors include the 2001 Mike Venezia Memorial Award and the 2015 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.
According to Equibase statistics, Luzzi has won 3,529 races with purse earnings in excess of $114 million since beginning his career in 1988. He has had success in New York's top races, taking the 1991 Brooklyn Handicap (G1) with Timely Warning at Aqueduct Racetrack, 1995 Sword Dancer Invitational (G1T) with Kiri's Clown at Saratoga Race Course, the 2001 Hempstead Handicap (G1) with Critical Eye at Belmont, the 2002 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) with Jilbab at Belmont, and the 2007 Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) with Daaher at Aqueduct.
