Jockey Martin Garcia Hospitalized

Jockey Martin Garcia was hospitalized after an incident during training at Santa Anita Park Sept. 26.

Agent Thom Mitchell confirmed Wednesday morning Garcia was transported to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, Calif., but was unable to provide further details, as he was en route to the hospital. Mitchell said later in the afternoon that Garcia will remain hospitalized overnight but did not indicate what the jockey's injuries were.

"All I know is they’re going to keep him overnight for observation," Mitchell said.

According to the track notes from the Santa Anita publicity department, Mitchell said Garcia "hit his head pretty hard."

"He hit his head pretty hard, so they're keeping him overnight," the agent said to the publicity department. "But he was talking and in good spirits. He's going to be OK."

Before he headed to the hospital to check on Garcia, Mitchell told Alexis Garske of Santa Anita's publicity department that the rider was unseated from a horse in the Santa Anita backstretch. Garcia was down on the main track for a time, placed onto a backboard by paramedics, loaded into an ambulance, and taken off the track. Mitchell told Garske the rider was unconscious for some time but regained consciousness before he was sent to the hospital.

Mitchell later said Garcia was working a horse for trainer Ron McAnally. Multiple witnesses said the horse was corralled by track outriders after the incident and was walked back to the barn area. McAnally was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Garcia is a multiple grade 1-winning jockey and has won top-level races with horses like Bayern , Collected, Lookin At Lucky , Dortmund , Secret Circle , Coil, Game On Dude, Drefong, Plum Pretty, Hoppertunity, The Factor , First Dude , Misremembered , Union Strike, Callback, Declassify, New Year's Day , Streaming, Egg Drop, Love and Pride, Eden's Moon, Cambina, Drill , Champagne d'Oro, Harmonious, and Gabby's Golden Gal.