Report: Jockey Allen remains hospitalized with neck fracture

Jockey Ronnie Allen Jr. remains in the hospital after breaking two vertebrae in his neck in a spill at Presque Isle Downs on Tuesday.

According to a report from Chelsea Hackbarth of Paulick Report, Allen fractured the C4 and C5 vertebrae in his neck. He has had surgery to install a plate, with the goal of getting those vertebrae to fuse.

As of Thursday, Allen was able to move his right arm, but he had not regained feeling in his left arm or his legs. Doctors have not given a clear prognosis yet, including whether he is expected to walk again, as they wait for the swelling around his spinal cord to subside.

Trainer Maria Bowersock, Allen's fiancé, told Paulick Report that she expected a clearer diagnosis in seven to ten days. Allen is expected to be in intensive care for two to three more weeks and then move to a rehabilitation center near Tampa Bay Downs, Bowersock's winter base.

Allen rode 4-year-old filly Keep in Touch in Tuesday's eighth race, a claiming sprint. Passing the seven sixteenths, Keep in Touch stumbled and unseated Allen. Another horse raced just behind and had to take up to try to avoid Allen. Keep in Touch continued to run riderless and walked off the course under her own power, according to the Equibase chart.

Allen, 61 years old, has 4,086 wins in a riding career dating to 1983. Though he has not won a graded-stakes race, he was second in the 2012 Ontario Matron (G3) with Hooh Why and second in the 2015 Tampa Bay Stakes (G3) with Old Time Hockey.