Amid rehab, Victor Espinoza 'plans to come back' to riding

Jockey Victor Espinoza continues his lengthy recovery from a fractured vertebra in his neck suffered in a training mishap at Del Mar on July 22.

Recognized worldwide for his Triple Crown sweep aboard American Pharoah in 2015 and as the regular rider of two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, the 46-year-old Hall of Famer soldiers on from the most serious injury in his career of more than a quarter century.

“He’s progressing every day,” said his agent, Brian Beach, who also represents top apprentice Asa Espinoza, Victor’s 18-year-old nephew. “He says he kind of takes two steps forward and one step backwards.

“When you’re dealing with nerve damage, it responds in different ways. One day, you wake up and everything works again, so it’s kind of frustrating. He’s still in San Diego where he goes to rehab three days a week.

“He walks in his neighborhood three times a day and he’s trying to do as much as they’re letting him do. He doesn’t have to wear the neck brace all the time anymore, but he puts it on for different things, like riding in a car, because doctors want him to protect himself from sudden movements.

“He’s not allowed to drive yet, so he has to have someone drive him back and forth to physical therapy. He’s been in good spirits and he’s got a bright outlook, but this is all foreign territory for him. He’s really had a relatively injury-free career. He’s never spent a night in the hospital before.

“He had a broken wrist up at Bay Meadows way back and that was about it. He’s trying to follow doctors’ orders and he’ll see them again the first week in October. We’ll know more then. They’ll take new X-rays, MRIs and all that.”

Asked if all goes well would Victor resume riding, Beach said, “Yes. Unless he’s shut down by the doctors, he plans to come back. He’s never wavered from that since day one, and that’s all I can go on . . . He’s never given me any indication of anything else.”