Recent Accidents Put Safety Concerns Back in Spotlight

Recent injuries continue to draw questions about safety precautions on the track. Jockey Abel Cedillo was thrown from his horse at the start of the fourth race July 23 at Del Mar and sustained a fractured neck. Having fallen near the starting gate with the horses in the race due to cross that area of the track again, the gate crew relocated Cedillo to the winners' circle. After the injury, he told Daily Racing Form that not only should the gate crew have not touched him but that the race should have been canceled. Cedillo's agent Mike Ciani said he could not speak to his client's comments as they have not been discussed. Stewards typically have the ability and authority to radio outriders, who can intercept a race in progress and signal jockeys to pull up their mounts. According to California Horse Racing Board executive director Scott Chaney, a fact-finding meeting is scheduled for July 28, at Del Mar to be attended by all interests involved in the Cedillo incident, including the board of stewards and representatives of the track. "It's not on everybody's radar screen, the safety of horse and rider," said Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys Guild. Then, before the fourth race July 26 at Finger Lakes Racetrack, jockey Oscar Gomez was dismounted from Two Step Slew and sustained "a significant leg injury," according to a track official. This ultimately led to the cancelation of the rest of that day's card and candid conversations between all involved parties. In a tweet noted by Horse Racing Nation and which now appears to be deleted, track announcer Tony Calo wrote, "Óscar was transferred into the ambulance, and we will be in a delay." Two Step Slew was scratched, but then there was another scratch. Following an additional delay, the remainder of the card was canceled. Meyocks said that where the accident happened it was impossible to back up an ambulance. He said jockey Jackie Davis jumped over a fence to bring a backboard to Gomez's location. In an email, Finger Lakes senior director of marketing Steve Martin said, "I can tell you that our EMS staff was certainly prepared to handle Gomez's injury and the outside ambulance was on site and ready to transport Gomez when he was able to be transported." In a statement July 27, Finger Lakes said, "Fellow jockeys expressed some concern with the medical response and requested a meeting with management in lieu of riding in the remaining races of the day. "Throughout the last 24 hours Finger Lakes management has had very productive discussions with jockeys, horsemen and staff in order to better understand their concerns as well as convey the challenges faced by medical personnel in an emergency situation. We will continue to strengthen protocols where able and maintain ongoing weekly dialogue with all stakeholders." Martin, in his email, said that Gomez's injury "was emotional for the fellow jockeys to witness and their concerns were centered around the perceived urgency being shown by some to attend to the rider." He added that since the accident there have been multiple meetings to address concerns. Meyocks said that both the track and the jockeys believe the conversations Wednesday night were positive and want to keep open lines of communication. Also Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was dismounted from his ride at the start of the third race on the Mellon Turf Course. Velazquez had a better outcome than that of Cedillo or Gomez in that there were no serious injuries. He didn't race the rest of Wednesday's card and took off all his scheduled mounts Thursday. Meyocks said the concern in this instance was that Velazquez had to walk from the winner's circle to the first aid station. Meyocks said these recent events are only examples of the bigger issue at large—improved safety measures. "Every racetrack in the country needs to do a better job and/or the stewards need to be on the same page where incidents like what happened in Saratoga or Del Mar or anywhere else in the country," Meyocks said. "They aren't the only ones; everyone needs to take responsibility of what to do. "We talk about warning systems going off. … Service providers need to be better prepared, need to know where they're going—location, gaps, where to take them to. Even find out where the first aid is and it's not being done throughout the country." HISA issued a statement saying it "takes jockey health and welfare incredibly seriously and is currently reviewing the recent incidents at Del Mar and Finger Lakes." The statement continues, "HISA leadership has been in contact with both tracks and is having ongoing discussions with their on-track safety staff about what happened, what potentially could have been done better and any possible adjustments that need to be made to track policies and protocols." Jay Hovdey contributed to this report.