'Great news' as fallen jockey Leparoux can resume riding
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Jockey Julien Leparoux, who was unseated when his mount, Eskenforit, stumbled at the start of Saturday night's Indiana Derby (G3), sustained a deep cut — which his agent, Steve Bass, described as more of a gouge — just above the ankle on his right shinbone but suffered no broken bones or sprain.
Bass said Leparoux made his scheduled 6 a.m. Sunday flight back to Albay, N.Y., with an assist from jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who was on the same flight. He had another set of X-rays taken that was sent to a specialist in upstate New York. Bass said the Louisville-based Leparoux could resume riding as early as Wednesday.
Another horse’s shoe apparently clipped Leparoux’s shin, severe enough to tear his boot as if it had been cut. “There’s a lot of swelling,” Bass said. “They told him to just keep it up off the ground, keep some ice on it and just rest it for a couple of days. The ankle is not sprained. The swelling is from the cut. It looked like somebody took a machete or ax and whacked him on his shin bone. It’s got to be painful. It’s not his ankle at all. It’s like two inches above.”
Still, Bass said that all things considered, “It’s really great news.”
So far in 2019, Leparoux, who has won Eclipse Awards as both Outstanding Apprentice Jockey and Outstanding Jockey, has collected 60 victories over 414 starts. Among his top current mounts is Concrete Rose, winner of this month's Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) who will aim for a sweep in New York's new "Turf Tiara" for 3-year-old fillies on the grass.
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