Jockeys Court, Rocco Injured at Churchill
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Photo: Coady Photography
Jon Court
Jockeys Jon Court and Joe Rocco Jr. have been sidelined from injuries sustained in separate incidents Friday Sept. 16 on Churchill Downs’ opening day card.
Court, who is six wins away from a 4,000th career victory, suffered three broken vertebrae and two broken ribs after being unseated from his mount Red Blue and True on the backstretch in Friday’s finale after his mount clipped heels with another runner. Agent Steve Krajcir was unsure as to how long he would be out.
“He sent me a text at 5:35 this morning and said, ‘Just FYI, we’ll have to wait a while for win 4,000,’” Krajcir said. “The movement is good, he’s coherent and everything but he’ll definitely be out for a while.”
Earlier on the card, Rocco suffered a fractured left wrist during the eighth race after his mount Raagheb clipped heels with another horse at the top of the stretch and unseated his rider.
“He’ll possibly be out four-to-six weeks,” said agent Jay Fedor. “He’s going to see a specialist on Tuesday.”