Horse Falls, 3 Jockeys Are Injured

Jockey Amir Cedeno suffered a broken pelvis and Corey Nakatani and Alex Solis, two of the leading riders in the nation, escaped with lesser injuries Sunday after a three-horse spill during the fourth race at Hollywood Park.

Solis’ mount, Ask The Man, was in fifth place when he broke down coming out of the turn for home. Snoboy, ridden by Cedeno, was unable to avoid Ask The Man in front of him, and went down, rolling over on Cedeno.

Runaway Tank and Nakatani were also tripped by Ask The Man and went down. Runaway Tank, the 5-2 favorite in the seven-furlong race, rolled over Nakatani and appeared to make contact with Solis.

Snoboy got up and resumed running, completing the course. Ask The Man, owned by Gary Garber and trained by David Cross, suffered a shattered left front leg and was destroyed. Before the race, Runaway Tank had been claimed by trainer Eddie Truman for $25,000 and his injuries did not appear to be serious.

All three jockeys remained conscious and were taken to Centinela Hospital and Medical Center. According to Dr. Bill Montgomery, who treated them in the emergency room, Cedeno will be hospitalized for about two weeks and will not be able to ride for about three months.

Nakatani, 31, suffered a deep bruise on his lower left leg. He was released and returned to the jockeys’ room at Hollywood Park. Solis, 27, has a deep bruise on the right thigh and bruised ribs on the right side. He left the hospital on crutches Sunday night, but might be able to ride by the end of the week.

Through Nov. 17, Nakatani ranked eighth nationally with purses of almost $8 million. Solis, with purses of more than $5 million, ranked 13th nationally.

Solis had been scheduled to ride Sea Cadet, the 1-2 favorite, in Sunday’s $109,200 Laz Barrera Stakes. Martin Pedroza replaced Solis and rode to an eight-length victory.

Nakatani resisted going to the hospital and even wanted to ride What A Spell, his scheduled mount in the Barrera Stakes, but he was advised to undergo X-rays. What A Spell, under Frank Alvarado, finished third.

“There wasn’t much time to do anything,” Nakatani said of the spill. “I tried to swing my horse to the outside, but he was right behind Alex’s horse and tried to jump over him.”

As soon as Nakatani rolled over, he sat up.

“Luckily, I was thrown clear of the others,” Nakatani said.

“I had the wind knocked out of me. My horse rolled over me, so I was lucky. I wasn’t near Alex in the ambulance, but I saw Amir and you could tell he was in a lot of pain.”

Sea Cadet is a son of Bolger, who was trained by Laz Barrera. Sunday’s stake, formerly the Affirmed Handicap, was renamed in honor of Barrera, who died last in April.

The win victory for Sea Cadet was his fourth in 10 starts this year. Sea Cadet is owned by Verne Winchell and trained by Ron McAnally.

Winchell’s 3-year-olds, Sea Cadet and Olympio, have won six derbys this year, four of them by Olympio.

Horse Racing Notes

Eddie Delahoussaye rode three winners Sunday, including Shirkee, the Bill Shoemaker-trained gelding who made his first start since winning the California Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 9.

Haloshine, winner of the second race, is a son of Halo and a $625,000 yearling owned by Clarence and Dorothy Scharbauer, who raced Alysheba, the 1988 horse of the year. It was Haloshine’s first win victory in four starts. . . . Riding Blacksburg, a Wayne Lukas-trained colt, Pat Day broke the record for most stakes wins victories in one a year by capturing winning Sunday’s Hawthorne Juvenile in suburban Chicago. It was Day registered his 58th stakes victory, breaking the record that was set by Jorge Velasquez in 1985 and matched by Craig Perret last year.