Fuentes Suffers Multiple Fractures in Canterbury Fall

In the fifth race at Canterbury Park June 23, jockey Ruben Fuentes was pitched to the ground when his mount Malintent  broke down at the top of the lane.

The rider was transported to the trauma hospital in Minneapolis last night. According to Canterbury media relations manager Jeff Maday, Fuentes suffered multiple fractures in his skull, vertebrae, and collarbone. Maday relayed that Fuentes was scheduled to go into surgery this morning but that the surgery has been postponed until Monday morning.

Roimes Chirinos was also dislodged when his mount Hpnotiq Rhythm  fell over Malintent in the stretch. Although unseated, Chirinos was reportedly ok. Hpnotiq Rhythm, who stood up and walked off after the race, has also been reported as fine.

Malintent, a 3-year-old gelding owned by Todd Veerhusen and trained by Ronald L. Westermann, was vanned off the track following the race. He was later euthanized after suffering from a catastrophic injury.

Fuentes, a multiple graded stakes-winning jockey, has won 35 races from 254 mounts this year for earnings of $810,725. He has accumulated $10,006,974 in earnings since he started riding in 2015. Represented by agent Pete Antonucci, Fuentes was currently sitting at sixth on the leading riders standings at Canterbury as of Friday.

Canterbury has a Leg Up Fund that provides financial assistance to jockeys that are injured at the track.