Tue, 04/08/2025 - 14:55

Saez taken off track in ambulance after falling from mount

Barbara D. Livingston
Jockey Luis Saez was unseated during Keeneland's second race on Tuesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jockey Luis Saez escaped serious injury after being taken off the track in an ambulance early on Keeneland's Tuesday card.  

Kiaran McLaughlin, Saez's agent, posted on social media Thursday evening that Saez "will be sore tomorrow, but nothing [is] broken."

"Luis wants to ride tomorrow. We will see how he is feeling in the morning," McLaughlin continued.  

Saez fell during the second race of the day when his mount, Fateful Lightning, appeared to shy from the crop at about the three-sixteenths pole of a maiden turf route. In bearing outward, Fateful Lightning made contact with Bermuda Triangle.

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Saez came out of the saddle, made a futile attempt to keep his feet in the stirrups, and came off Fateful Lightning, who might have stepped on Saez as she attempted to regain her balance. Fateful Lightning stayed on her feet and was caught, apparently uninjured, by the outriders. 

Several jockeys in the race ran onto the turf course to check on Saez, and both Irad and Jose Ortiz said Saez was complaining of lower back pain but was able to move his arms and legs and was communicating normally. 

Saez was off his mounts the rest of the day, including Admiral Dennis, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes under Manny Franco.

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