Longtime Tucson jockey dies after fall from horse

Associated PressMar 4, 2020, 2:51 AM EST

Getty Images

TUCSON, Ariz. — Longtime jockey Richard Gamez died Sunday after falling from his horse and getting trampled by another horse during a race in Tucson.

Gamez was leading in the fifth race at Rillito Park Racetrack when his horse stumbled and he was thrown from the saddle, according to the Rillito Park Foundation.

Gamez, 66, was trampled by at least one trailing horse and taken to Banner University Medical Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

“We’ve had jockeys get injured here before, but nothing like this,” Foundation President Jaye Wells said. “The accident was such that it didn’t really have anything to do with his age. I’m no medical expert, but we believe the brain injury was such that he wouldn’t have survived if he’d been 20.”

Gamez garnered two wins, two places and four shows during the first four weekends of the 2020 Winter Meet, a seven-weekend series that includes 14 races. The meet started Feb. 8 and is scheduled to continue until March 22.

His death marks the first at the Tucson track since the 1960s, Wells said. The horse Gamez was riding was not injured.

Gamez started racing at Rillito Park Racetrack when he was a child. He rode in more than 1,300 quarter horse races, winning nearly 200 races and earned more than $617,000, according to the American Quarter Horse Association.

Gamez also earned more than $1.2 million while racing thoroughbreds more than 4,500 times. He ranked seventh this season including two first-place wins.

“He was a good guy. A hell of a guy. He loved horses,” said Hector Pinedo, who knew Gamez for nearly 50 years and helped Gamez raise and ride horses for Pinedo’s father before his death. “He loved the sport of kings, and he died doing what he did best.”

The racetrack and foundation are planning a celebration of Gamez’s life this weekend. Details of the celebration were still being planned on Tuesday.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.