by Jeff Apel

Apprentice jockey Lyndie Wade remained in an induced comma on Saturday, one day after being hurt at Hawthorne Race Course in a spill that also left jockey Randy Meier with a broken left shoulder.

Wade, 16, was unconscious when he was transported to Loyola Hospital in Maywood, Illinois, on Friday. He was heavily sedated because of head trauma, agent Jay Fedor said.

“They wanted to make sure he was okay,” Fedor said. “There was a little wisp of blood on his brain. They’ve taken a second CAT scan. It has started to clear up and go in the right direction. Everything is going to be fine.”

Fedor said it appears that Wade suffered no other serious injuries in the accident, which occurred when his mount, Chestnut Gold, broke down on the second turn in the third race. Meier was unseated when his mount, Arazi Exchange, tripped over the fallen Chestnut Gold.

Chestnut Gold was euthanized. Arazi Exchange escaped injury.

Fedor said he has not yet watched a replay to see what caused Wade’s head injuries. He expects Wade to remain hospitalized for several more days.

“He’s progressing in the right direction,” Fedor said. “He’s doing a lot better.”

Meier is scheduled to have surgery in the near future, agent Penny Ffitch-Heyes said.

“I can’t see him being back before March,” Ffitch-Heyes said. “Surgery speeds things up, which is good. I like surgery. You heal the bones faster and a lot stronger.”

Meier, 53, earned his 4,000th career win aboard Officer Frank on September 16 at Arlington Park. The veteran jockey is also one of five finalists for the 2008 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, which is presented annually by Santa Anita Park to honor riders whose career and personal characteristics reflect positively on the individual and the sport of racing.

“He’s having a hell of a year,” Ffitch-Heyes said. “He’s so mad. He’s doing good and he loves the job.”

Ffitch-Heyes said Meier is already talking about returning to riding. She compared his determination to the competitiveness shown by Brett Favre, the gritty quarterback of the National Football League’s Green Bay Packers.

“Someone told me the other day he’s the Brett Favre of horse racing,” Ffitch-Heyes said. “He really is. I thought it was a good analogy.”

Jockey Tim Thornton, who was unseated shortly after the start of Friday’s sixth race when his mount, Tough Tiz, stumbled, suffered a partially collapsed lung. Agent Jimmy Ernesto expects Thornton to return to riding on Wednesday.

“[Friday] night I was worried that he had broken ribs,” Ernesto said. “But there’s nothing broken. So he feels a lot better and he should be good in a few days.”

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor