Paco Lopez Receives 30-Day Suspension at Gulfstream

Veteran jockey Paco Lopez has received a 30-day suspension from the stewards at Gulfstream Park for his role in a two-horse spill during the first race Jan. 31 at the Florida racetrack in which jockeys Romero Maragh and Carlos Montalvo were injured.

Maragh underwent spinal surgery Feb. 1 as a result of his injuries.

Gulfstream Park steward Stephen DiMauro said Lopez's suspension was lengthened due to multiple occurrences "of being either reprimanded or fined or suspended."

"In the running of the race," DiMauro said, "Paco's horse was on the inside and around the turn angled out, not being clear of a horse that was next to him, causing that horse to clip his heels and fall. After multiple times of being either reprimanded or fined or suspended, we came to the conclusion that we needed to do more, so a 30-day suspension is what we gave him."

Maragh, an apprentice jockey, suffered broken vertebrae in the one-mile turf race and was sent to Aventura Hospital, and Carlos Montalvo was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of the right ankle.

According to his agent, Walter Blum Jr., Maragh underwent about six hours of surgery to stabilize his T5 and T6, and T8 and T9 thoracic vertebrae. Although Blum is confident the 18-year-old can resume his career, he said it was too early to predict how quickly Maragh would recover.

"Supposedly, the surgery went well to stabilize his back. He fractured more vertebrae than we thought," Blum said. "Hopefully, they will not have to do any more surgeries and he'll heal up, so it looks like he should ride again. He's so young, so he should heal up fine, but you never know until you start healing and you see how it goes. He could move his arms and legs yesterday. He was coherent but in a lot of pain.

"He doesn't smoke or drink. He's one of the best kids you'll ever meet. He's talented and a gentleman. It's a sad thing what happened."

Lopez was racing along the inside approaching the quarter pole aboard Dixie Princess when his horse swung wide to challenge the two dueling leaders in front of him. In the process, he moved in front of Classic Act, who was alongside him, causing the 5-year-old mare to clip heels and fall, tossing Maragh to the ground. Prospective Moment then stumbled over Classic Act as Montalvo was also unseated.

A third horse, Princess Zoe, was pulled up to avoid the fallen horses and riders but was able to cross the wire seventh without incident behind the victorious Cocktail Skirt.

Dixie Princess finished second but was disqualified and placed seventh and last.

Both Classic Act and Prospective Moment were caught after running loose and did not appear to suffer any serious injuries.

The 33-year-old Lopez was born in in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, Mexico and received the Eclipse Award as the Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2008. Since 2007, he has 2,450 wins from 12,303 mounts, with earnings of $86,080,449 through Jan. 31.

Maragh, who rides with a five-pound weight allowance, began his career in 2018 and has 85 wins from 920 starts, with earnings of $2,655,678.

Since 1999, Montalvo has 11,141 mounts with 1,188 wins and earnings of $24.9 million.

Phone calls and texts to Lopez's agent, Cory Moran, were not returned.

The Gulfstream stewards also administered a five-day suspension to jockey Luis Saez, the meet's leading rider with 73 wins (through Jan. 31), for an incident in the 10th race Jan. 31 when his mount, Unoffensive, was disqualified from first to second for drifting out in the final sixteenth and carrying out runner-up Grand Journey.