Jockey Tiago Pereira is expected to miss a number of weeks after suffering facial fractures in a turf course spill at Del Mar July 19.
It happened in race 5 when his mount Origami clipped heels and fell near the three-eighths pole. Both horse and rider momentarily stayed down on the grass before Origami finally got up on her feet. Pereira tried to stand up but promptly laid back down on the ground until paramedics arrived.
He was transported to First Aid where the decision was made to take him to the hospital.
Doug O'Neill, the trainer of Origami, visited Pereira at the hospital Saturday night.
"He got little mini-fractures in his cheek," O'Neill notes. "So, he'll have surgery on his face. He's in good spirits and in good hands. The doctor swore he'll look like George Clooney when he's done."
Pereira's agent, Craig Stephens, says the surgery will be done in the next couple of days. He expects the jockey to miss 8-to-10 weeks.
As for Origami, she walked onto the horse ambulance and was taken back to the barn.
"Thank god she's fine," O'Neill says. "She needed seven stitches but she walks down, jogs down. She'll have a compression bandage for a few days. She got lucky."
