McCarron Breaks Bone in Left Leg in Five-Horse Spill

Jockeys Chris McCarron and Terry Lipham were hospitalized Thursday after being thrown from their mounts in a five-horse spill in the $45,000 feature race at Santa Anita.

McCarron, 31, the nation’s leading jockey in purse earnings this year, suffered a broken bone in his left leg in the eighth-race mishap. McCarron was calling in his own physician for further consultation after the examination.

Lipham, 41, was diagnosed as having multiple bruises and abrasions.

Both riders were in stable condition, said Angela Burnett, the nursing supervisor at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, where the riders were taken by track ambulance.

Hatim, ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, won the race by seven lengths over Innamorato, ridden by Frank Olivares. They were the only two to finish the mile race for 3-year-olds and up.

The incident occured as the field of seven horses raced out of the far turn. Encolure, ridden by Lipham, was vying for the lead outside Hatim at the three-eighths pole when he broke down, causing four horses behind him to fall and unseat their riders in a chain reaction.

Both Right Con, ridden by Rafael Meza, and Variety Road, ridden by McCarron, tripped and fell, sending those two riders tumbling to the ground.

Last Motel, ridden by Gary Stevens, and Ultimate Pleasure, ridden by Laffit Pincay, each stumbled and unseated their riders.

Encolure, who broke a bone in his left front leg, had to be destroyed after the incident. The other four horses were apparently uninjured in the mishap.

Pincay, Stevens and Meza went back to the jockey’s room and were examined by a track physician. None was hurt seriously.