NEWS
Karlsson, Lopez avoid serious injury at Arlington
Posted: Monday, May 25, 2009 7:03 PM
Jockeys Uriel Lopez and Inez Karlsson avoided serious injury on Monday after both of their rides broke down during the seventh race at Arlington Park, a $5,000 claiming race on the Polytrack surface.
Karlsson, aboard Parade Summer Girl, raced in eighth near the quarter-pole when her mount broke down. Courtwright, who trailed the field, tried to jump Parade Summer Girl but stumbled and unseated Lopez. Courtwright was vanned off after the race.
Lopez’s agent, John Christiano, said the jockey walked off on his own power and was unharmed.
Karlsson, a 2008 Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey, was taken to nearby Northwest Community Hospital for observation. Karlsson made a “thumbs up” gesture to the crowd on a stretcher before being placed in the ambulance.
“I think she’s alright,” Karlsson’s agent, Penny Ffitch-Heyes, said. “She can move all of her extremities, which is the main thing. They’ll sort out anything else once the examine her.”
The accident came two days after jockey Rene Douglas suffered possible permanent paralysis when his ride, Born to Be, clipped heals with another horse and tumbled straight down. Douglas may not be able to walk again because of the accident, his agent, Dennis Cooper, said on Sunday.
