Rail Cover Broke Fall of Pincay : Del Mar Officials Say Injuries Could Have Been More Serious

Horsemen and Del Mar racing officials are saying that a protective rail cover, installed at the track six years ago, prevented jockey Laffit Pincay from suffering more serious injuries, and maybe even being killed, Monday in a spill there.

As it was, Pincay suffered seven broken ribs and a punctured right lung after his mount, the winless 4-year-old colt, Seal the Deal, sent the jockey over the fence with about a sixteenth of a mile to run in a 1 1/16-mile race.

Pincay was said to be under sedation and was listed in fair condition Tuesday at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. A hospital spokesman said that the 41-year-old jockey would remain there for two or three days.

Seal the Deal, a Wayne Lukas-trained horse running for only the second time, was in contention but tiring on the rail in the stretch run, then appeared to shy away from three rallying horses that loomed on the outside. Seal the Deal jumped the fence, and Pincay’s back hit the railing.

Six years ago, at the request of the Jockeys’ Guild, Del Mar installed rubberized plastic panels that cover the steel gooseneck pipes that support the rail. Pincay landed on one of the panels Monday and bounced off. Although Seal the Deal was not seriously injured, the impact of the horse broke off the gooseneck.

“That railing saved Laffit’s neck,” Lukas said.

Not long after the protective paneling was added, Chris McCarron hit the fence in a spill and credited the cover with saving him from serious injury.

“I think the panel saved Laffit’s life,” said Joe Harper, the general manager of Del Mar. “He landed on top of it, and it did what it was supposed to do. The panel is angled a little bit, about 10 degrees, and it’s very pliable.

“This was your classic horse-going-over-the-rail number, and it could have been much worse than what it was. Until something like this happens, you forget how much energy a 1,000-pound horse creates while running as fast as he does.”

Two days before the spill, Pincay had hit the high point of his year, riding Forty Niner to a narrow victory over Seeking the Gold in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Pincay then had a horrible trip back to Del Mar from New Jersey. His flight was late Saturday night, causing him to miss a connection in Chicago and he spent about 6 1/2 hours sleeping on an airport bench.

Arriving at Del Mar 3 1/2 hours before Sunday’s first race, Pincay was tired and also felt that he had caught the flu. But he rode two winners for Lukas, including Clabber Girl in the Rancho Bernardo Handicap.

“I was thinking of taking off my mounts,” Pincay said after the Clabber Girl race. “But every time I think about doing that, the horse I’m supposed to ride wins.”

According to recent Daily Racing Form statistics, Pincay ranks seventh on the national money list, his horses having earned more than $4.3 million in purses.

Lifetime, Pincay is No. 1 on the purse list with a total of more than $127.4 million. He is second to Bill Shoemaker--who has won more than 8,700 races--with 6,969 wins.

Before Monday’s accident, Pincay had suffered only one serious riding injury. He broke a vertebra in a spill at Santa Anita two days after last Christmas and was sidelined for five weeks.

Pincay rode Forty Niner for the first time in the Haskell and before Monday’s injury was scheduled to ride the 3-year-old colt again in the $1-million Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 20.