Anyone can be sued, but there needs to be a basis for the lawsuit. Usually it’s negligence. I don’t see any negligence on the part of the racetrack wrt Espinoza.
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Heading home! http://www.drf.com/news/espinoza-set-begin-home-physical-therapy-spinal-injury?enable=true
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skydy, thanks for the update! Glad to hear he’s healing and on his way home.
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Update on Espinoza. Sounds like it’s going to be a long road to recovery.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-victor-espinoza-plaschke-20180818-story.html#
They just had an interview with Victor on TVG, before the Pacific Classic ran.
He looks & sounds like he’s mentally/physically in a better place then right after the accident.
Although he still has months of therapy ahead of him.
Wishing him the best.
Hard interview to watch. Both to see how far he has come in recovery but yet how far to go.
Sobering to hear him say that for the vast majority of his career, he’s never afraid until this fall.
Hope to see him back on a horse again but I sure would not blame him if he retired as a jock. Sounds like he isn’t in a place yet to make that choice.
:encouragement:
I was grateful (that may not be the best word) the press coverage came out this weekend, because I had NO idea the severity of his injuries.
Yes, I heard he had a fractured vertebra, but the ramifications of that type of injury can vary so wildly. The previous press coverage I had read sounded so positive, “oh, he’s just wearing a brace and will do physical therapy while he regains strength…” Never once did it occur to me that there were so many questions in his future… like whether or not he’ll regain full use of his body.
Sending lots of positive thoughts!
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Texarkana, I agree that I didn’t realize Victor’s injury was as severe as it was.
Article on BH yesterday about an interesting comment CHRB Chairman made regarding Bobby Abu Dhabi’s death.
“For the record, to clarify, the enhanced necropsy on Bobby Abu Dhabi … has not been completed. It does appear that there’s a very good chance it was not a heart attack,” Winner said.
After Winner made the comment, CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur said he was “surprised” the chairman made such a statement in the public forum but indicated Winner’s statement was informed by preliminary findings.
Important to note the complete sudden-death protocol has not yet been completed.
Victor also believes it was not a cardiac issue.
Still recovering from the spill that fractured his C3 vertebra, Victor Espinoza has believed since the incident that it was not related to a cardiac issue.
“I don’t know who came up with the idea the horse had a heart attack,” Espinoza said Thursday. “I’ve been riding for 25 years. I’ve ridden every kind of horse you can imagine, and I’ve fallen off all kinds. I know. In my mind, he broke his leg. I heard the sound.”
Final results and findings will be interesting.
The horse was dead and unmoving when he hit the ground, though, correct? There is a short video clip that shows it. Why would he have fallen the way he did with a broken leg and been dead as soon as he hit the track?
Well it will be interesting to see what the final report states.
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Did you read the BH article (link was provided)?
It was widely reported that the incident during a workout was from an apparent cardiac event, because of the way it happened. Immediately after he fell, Bobby Abu Dhabi was motionless on the Del Mar main track and did not appear to have any signs of a catastrophic leg injury.
“For the record, to clarify, the enhanced necropsy on Bobby Abu Dhabi … has not been completed. It does appear that there’s a very good chance it was not a heart attack,” Winner said.
It’s possible that he (the horse) went down when the leg broke and broke his neck in the fall.
This is pure conjecture on my part; I have no information on this specific incident but it is one possibility, and one that has been known to occur.
Here’s the thing- you shouldn’t need an enhanced necropsy- bloodwork and all- in order to determine if the horse broke a leg. If the horse went down, as this one did, one would tend to believe that the catastrophic injury would be relatively obvious. Now, as to the conjecture of a broken neck? No idea.
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Perhaps but it sounds like the extended full protocol necropsy is not yet complete. I don’t believe the stewards really need to release any information until completed; then issue a full report. This almost sounded like an inadvertent comment by one of the CHRB members reviewing the incident.
FWIW, this is the first time I’ve seen any mention of a broken leg. If that was the case, why was Espinoza not more outspoken after the incident? Yeah, he was in pretty bad shape but I certainly saw nothing from him saying he heard the leg break until now (along with his other comments about potential issues with Bobby Abu Dhabi)…
Espinoza said the last time he rode Bobby Abu Dhabi in a race, a third-place run in the True North Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park June 8, something felt out of the ordinary aboard the Kona Gold Stakes (G2) winner, but he attributed it to a colt running on an unfamiliar surface.
“He just didn’t feel like he was before,” the rider said. “I thought maybe it was the track. But now that I think about it, he may have had another problem.”
Espinoza went on to say Bobby Abu Dhabi “just wasn’t 100% going into that work” July 22.
Just now this is coming out in an article in the BH? What has Espinoza said to the CHRB?
One of Bobby Abu Dhabi’s owners was Brian Trump/Rockingham Ranch. Curious to know if Brian Trump is related to Donald? I tried to look it up online but couldn’t find anything about this.
No, I don’t believe he is related to the President. If he is, not closely at all. Just similar last name
The thought is; if the horse broke a leg; it broke its neck when it hit the ground which caused it to die instantly. That is the only way a broken leg could’ve killed the horse on impact
There were people standing on the rail, surely they would’ve seen (horrific) a catastrophic injury such as a leg break that was that bad.
Bobby Abu Dhabi’s trainer knows what happened and no one is talking. I think more than a few people know what happened that morning. Espinoza almost died. The sad thing about it is not only that he almost died, but we wouldn’t be hearing about this if Espinoza wasn’t on board that day. Victor frequently gallops his charges in the mornings.
As far as Espinoza; I wish him the speediest of recoveries and I am praying for him. I did not realize how bad his injuries were either but I think we need to blame that on his agent who said frequently, that within a few days he’d be back at it. Not nearly! Victor sounded a little worse for the wear mentally; I hope he takes the time he needs. Not just heal physically but mentally, too. That will take time. Keep at the physically therapy and take time to go enjoy the beach Victor, take a mental break!
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It’s not unusual for a horse to lay still after a fall. But this horse died on the track, so I guess we will have to wait to find out why.
Victor does not gallop horses. He occasionally gets on them to work.
Looks like VE is doing rather well.
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