Keeneland: Sáez avoids serious injury Tuesday in 2nd-race spill

Lexington, Ky.

Luis Sáez, who was booked to ride long shot Admiral Dennis in Tuesday’s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes and My Mane Squeeze in the Madison (G1), avoided serious injury when he fell from his mount late in the second race at Keeneland, where he missed the rest of his rides.

“All good,” his agent Kiaran McLaughlin said in a Tuesday evening text, “but the doctor said Luis will be sore tomorrow. Nothing broken. Advil and hopefully OK (prayer emojis).”

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McLaughlin said Sáez wants to ride the Wednesday card at Keeneland, but as he put it, “we’ll see.”

Riding once-raced colt Fateful Lightning in a turf race for 3-year-old maidens, Sáez went to a left-handed crop to urge his mount, who had been corrected from veering out just before Bermuda Triangle drifted in and made contact through mid-stretch traffic. A video replay showed Sáez losing his balance and falling to the ground over Fateful Lightning’s right shoulder. The colt raced over Sáez, but it was unclear whether he made contact with the fallen rider.

“Sáez is being evaluated by University of Kentucky HealthCare Medical Services and in stable condition,” a Keeneland spokesperson said in a written statement that also was posted to social media shortly after the mishap. “He will be off his mounts for the remainder of the day.”

“He was moving,” said Irad Ortiz Jr., who was among the riders who ran onto the track after the race to check on Sáez. “He looked alert.”

Sáez lay on the track as he was examined by medical personnel for seven minutes before he was taken on a wheeled stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

Fateful Lightning was reported in the Keeneland statement and by his trainer Brad Cox to be unhurt. He was captured by an outrider in the first turn.