Jockeys Taken to Hospital Following Three-Horse Spill
Jockeys Taken to Hospital Following Three-Horse Spill
Moon Virginia Eclipses Field in Laurel Friday Feature
Quartet of $100,000 Stakes Highlight Saturday Program
LAUREL, MD – Jockeys Trevor McCarthy, Horacio Karamanos and Jomar Torres were each taken to the hospital for evaluation following a three-horse spill during Friday’s sixth race.
McCarthy and Torres were removed from the track by stretcher and transported to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Karamanos was up on his feet after the incident but was taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md.
The spill happened on the far turn in the $35,000 maiden claiming event for 3-year-old fillies when Tuffy’s Way stumbled and fell while racing third, sending McCarthy to the ground near the rail. Lucky Dilly, with Karamanos aboard, were right behind and tripped over the fallen horse.
Torres was trailing the field on Kimberly B. and collided with Tuffy’s Way as she scrambled to her feet, flipping Torres head over heels. Both Tuffy’s Way and Kimberly B. were euthanized.
Maryland’s leading rider in 2014 and 2016, McCarthy is coming off Laurel’s fall meet championship. Karamanos is a veteran of more than 2,100 career wins and $55 million in purse earnings. Torres has won 232 races and topped $1 million in purse earnings in each of his three full seasons since turning pro in 2016.
McCarthy and Torres were replaced on their remaining mounts, while Karamanos was not named on any horses after the sixth.
Moon Virginia Eclipses Field in Laurel Friday Feature
Moon Virginia found a seam alongside pacesetting favorite Riley’s Choice to scoot up the rail and outrun Nyx Warrior to the wire for a 1 ¼-length victory in Friday’s featured eighth race at Laurel Park.
Moon Virginia ($8) ran about 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.84 over a fast main track in the $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance for older females. Nyx Warrior was second by 1 ½ lengths over Bodega Bay while 6-5 favorite Riley’s Choice wound up fifth.
Riley’s Choice, winner of the All Brandy Stakes Sept. 29 at Laurel, was in front after going the opening quarter-mile in 25.07 seconds and a half in 49.39 pressed by Time to Flirt. Victor Carrasco was in behind the leaders and waited for room before launching a bid once straightened for home.
It was the sixth victory from 32 career starts for Moon Virginia, a multiple stakes-placed mare making her 6-year-old debut for trainer Hamilton Smith, who co-owns and co-bred the daughter of Jump Start with Deborah Greene and Fred Greene Jr.
Laurel will host a nine-race program Saturday highlighted by four $100,000 stakes for older horses, led off by Grade 3 winner Late Night Pow Wow seeking her eighth consecutive victory in the six-furlong What a Summer (Race 3).
Also on the card are the six-furlong Fire Plug in Race 7 and the Native Dancer (Race 5) and Nellie Morse for females (Race 8), both at about 1 1/16 miles. First race post time is 12:30 p.m.
Notes: The 20-cent Rainbow 6 was solved by one lucky bettor for a $9,529.86 jackpot payout Friday. There will be a carryover of $900.45 in the $1 Super Hi-5 for Saturday’s opener … Jockey Weston Hamilton, a finalist for the Eclipse Award for champion apprentice of 2018, 2013 champion apprentice Victor Carrasco and Ricardo Chiappe each rode two winners Friday.
