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by Doug McCoy

Jockeys Victor Carrasco and Jose Ferrer were seriously injured Thursday after five horses fell during the running of the third race at Delaware Park.

Carrasco, aboard Really, was leading the mile turf test for $25,000 claimers approaching the far turn when his mount stumbled and fell, starting a chain reaction that wound up involving five of the seven horses in the field. Golden Earrings and Ferrer were behind Really and fell over that one. Babie Monster, Pamzine and My Tootsy also fell.

Carrasco and Ferrer were both transported to Christiana Care Medical Center, which is located directly behind Delaware Park. Carrasco suffered fractures of the fibia and tibia of his right leg and was scheduled for surgery Friday afternoon.

Ferrer fractured eight ribs and also had a collapsed lung. The other riders involved,  Jomar Torres, Edwin Rivera, and Andrew Wolfsont, escaped injury in the incident. Torres went on to ride several races later on the card, winning the seventh aboard Ridgemont High.  All of the horses escaped serious injury.

Madame Curie and Showreel, the only two to avoid the spill, finished first and second, respectively. They were perched in second and third and outside the leader at the time of the accident.

Carrasco, voted the nation’s top apprentice rider in Eclipse Award balloting in 2013, led the Laurel Park summer meeting with 36 wins after returning from a shoulder injury in May and had ridden 11 winners at the current Delaware meeting at the time of the spill.

Ferrer had just finished the recently completed Monmouth Park meeting as second leading rider and had four wins at Delaware Park. He was scheduled to ride Grand Prix in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks on September 23.

The race involving the spill was the first turf race scheduled on Thursday’s program. The other two were taken off the turf, which was listed as firm for the race. Delaware ran three races on the turf Wednesday on an afternoon that featured intermittent showers. The condition of the turf course for Wednesday’s races was listed as good, as was the the main track.

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