OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In less than two weeks, jockey Dylan Davis will find out if he’s greenlighted to begin his return to the saddle. It’s a comeback that he almost thought about not attempting.
Davis suffered a litany of injuries – nine broken ribs, a fractured right collarbone, a partially fractured right arm, a collapsed lung, and he lost a kidney – as a result of a spill at Aqueduct last Nov. 14, the day before his 31st birthday.
Davis was aboard Tarpaulin for trainer Orlando Noda. That horse was following Heavyweight Champs, who, under Ricardo Santana Jr., went down with a catastrophic injury to his left foreleg. Tarpaulin collided with Santana, hurling Davis hard to the Aqueduct main track. He was stepped on by a trailing horse.
During the 10 days he spent in the hospital – many in excruciating pain – Davis said it crossed his mind not to come back.
“I don’t wish that pain on anybody,” Davis said in a phone interview this week. “At one point, I couldn’t move my legs for maybe 10 or 15 seconds. That was part of the reason I was thinking of not coming back because I was close to getting paralyzed.”
Then the feeling came back in his legs. Shortly thereafter, the feeling of wanting to get back on horses also returned.
“I love being involved in racing and being involved with the horses, the competitive nature,” Davis said. “I guess the best way to say it is my love for racing is greater than the possible outcomes of injuries.”
Davis has spent the last several weeks doing physical therapy and working out at home with weights and resistance bands. When Davis last saw his orthopedist, “he was really impressed with my recovery,” Davis said.
On Feb. 19, Davis is scheduled to again meet with his orthopedist. At that time, Davis is hopeful of being cleared to start getting on horses again. If so, he will likely head to South Florida and re-engage with many of his clients who have the bulk of their strings down there and who are physically there themselves.
“I’m definitely going to go down there, show my face, and make sure people see that I’m ready to go and build that business back up,” Davis said. “I just really want to get back to riding. I’m not trying to rush it, I want to make sure I’m 100 percent ready for the horses, the trainers, and the owners.”
Davis said it is possible he could start riding in the afternoons at Gulfstream or possibly return to Aqueduct, which is now likely to race four days a week – the same schedule as Gulfstream – through at least March 19. NYRA had originally planned to go to three days a week starting on Feb. 20 before a rash of weather-related cancellations.
Michael Migliore, Davis’s agent, has already been in contact with trainers in Florida and has been pleased with the response he’s getting.
“I talked to a few trainers. They said they would look to help us out, so that’s good,” Migliore said. “We should be okay coming back. He’s not going to ride a lot of horses. We’ll pick and choose and get him on live ones.”
This is not Davis’s first time attempting to return from injury. In March 2021, he suffered a fractured collarbone and that sidelined him for two months. While it took a while to get his business back, Davis won his first Grade 1 later that year aboard Mutamakina in the E.P. Taylor at Woodbine.
In 2022, Davis led all riders on the New York Racing Association circuit in wins with 186. In 2024, he again was NYRA’s leading rider in wins with 209, including a terrific Saratoga meet where he won 37 races.
Davis was enjoying a solid year in 2025, having won a pair of Grade 1 stakes on La Cara for Mark Casse and rode graded stakes winners Dynamic Pricing (Grade 1 Just a Game), Fully Subscribed (Grade 2 Mother Goose), and Village Voice (Grade 3 Waya) for Chad Brown.
Davis knows the importance of getting off to a good start when he returns.
“I can’t miss a beat,” Davis said. “The last time I came back, I came back strong, I didn’t fall off the track. I got to show that I’m still capable of doing it. I have no worries about that. I’m motivated, excited to come back. Just a love for racing keeps me hungry.”
NYRA looks to add days
With Aqueduct having canceled the weekend due to extreme cold conditions, the New York Racing Association has applied to add Thursdays March 12 and March 19, previously scheduled as dark days.
Provided those days are approved by the New York State Gaming Commission, Aqueduct will race five consecutive Thursdays – Feb. 19, 26, March 5, 12, and 19 – that were previously scheduled as dark days.
NYRA has canceled eight full cards this winter due to weather.
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