Longtime jockey Dennis Carr is feeling lucky to be alive

A jockey's career can be described in three words. Day to Day.

Every race, thoroughbred jockeys risk careers and even their lives for the sport they love. They all know the risks, but their professionalism allows them to put that all aside to compete at the highest level.

On April 19th, longtime jockey Dennis Carr was set to ride 3-year-old maiden Sharpton in the fifth race at Golden Gate Fields. Sharpton, who Carr had never ridden before, acted up in the starting gate and Carr was forced out the back.

“The horse got really nervous and I wanted to step out the back of the gate,” Carr remembered about that day. “When I came off and went backwards, my head hit something. I don’t even know what I really hit. It may have been a head of the people trying to catch me or the starting gate itself, I really don’t know.”

Carr came up woozy from the fall and instantly starting getting pain in his head. After spending time in the track doctors office, track Physician David Seftel sent the 46-year-old  to get checked out at the hospital.

Once in the ambulance, city of Albany paramedics, James Sanders and John Weitzel, evaluated Carr and make a quick decision.

“His ICP (Intracranial pressure) was very high,” Sanders said. “We could tell by the amount of pain he was in and how he was reacting to things. It wasn’t a cut and dry decision, but we made the call that we needed to take him right to Highland Hospital (a hospital specializing in head trauma).”

“I think they made the call that saved my life,” said Carr.

Shortly after arriving at the hospital, it was determined Carr had bleeding around the brain and the rider underwent an emergency 5 ½ surgery to stop the bleeding and relieve pressure built up in his head. The surgery involved removing a part of his skull.

The surgery was deemed a success and should let Carr live a normal life once he recovers. But the recovery could take a while to complete.

Before leaving the hospital, Carr had another scare.

“Paul Nicolo came to see me and when he talked to me, I couldn’t communicate with him. I couldn’t put two words together,” Carr said. "I couldn’t  write or text or anything. It was because my sodium levels were so low. I was dehydrated from reducing the day of the accident and wasn’t allowed to drink anything in the hospital. It was not a good feeling. After a few days my levels came back up and it came back to me.”

Now back in his home in New York, Carr recounted a series of events that left him feeling lucky to be alive.

Two weeks earlier, Carr was involved in an accident during training hours. A stakes horse he was working was struck head on by a loose two year old. The young horse did not survive the accident but Carr’s horse came out okay. Carr was taken to Highland that day and after a couple of head scans, was released and cleared  to ride after missing just one day.

Although scans that day didn’t find anything, doctors say that accident likely caused some damage, that could have forced problems in the future, problems that Carr feels may have been known about had the second accident not happened.

Another blessing to Carr, was the fact that he was due to fly home the night of April 19 to see his wife, since GGF was about to have five days off from racing.

“Had I got on the plane that night without going to the hospital, the pressure in the plane may have been too much for the bleeding that was going on in my head.”

So now Carr is in that position all jockeys fear. After riding for 29 years and amassing over 2.900 wins, he must decide on his racing future.

“I’m not really sure where I stand on that,” he said last week. “One more shot to the head can finish me off and I know that. It’s time to do some soul searching. Right now I just want to concentrate on my health and thinking about my future, on or off the track.

“I love racing, the game has been very good to me, but my life is more important. I’ve learned you can never say no, but you really don’t know what’s going to happen. Another fall and I may not make it.”

One thing that can help Carr make his decision, is the fact that he and his wife have a successful dog boarding business. They have done it since 2007, and now Carr plans on spending more time with the dogs, while he ponders his future.