Eclipse-Winning Rider Frey Breaks Collarbone
Image:
Description:
Eclipse-Award winning jockey Kyle Frey fractured his right collarbone and sustained other injuries when his mount went down approaching the far turn in the seventh race Jan. 2 at Golden Gate Fields.
Frey, who turned 23 Jan. 3, was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland. Generous George, who fell after sustaining a fracture above the knee in his left front leg, was euthanized following the $8,000 maiden claiming race at six furlongs on the main track.
"Yeah, that's what he said, 'a great way to celebrate my birthday,' " related his agent, John Buc, who added that Frey was due to be released from the hospital Saturday.
Buc said Frey is likely to miss up to six weeks of action. Frey also sustained a cracked shoulder blade and a chip in his neck bone along with back bruising, but will not require surgery, the agent said.
Jockey Pedro Flores also went down in the incident when his mount, Magestic Cat, jumped over Generous George. Both Flores and Magestic Cat were uninjured.
Frey, a native of Tracy, Calif., won the 2011 Eclipse Award as North America's top apprentice jockey when his mounts won 153 of 884 races and earned more than $4 million. In 2014, Frey won 52 races from 387 mounts with purses totaling $832,414.
In the race preceding the fall, Frey recorded his first win of 2015 in a $33,081 allowance race on the turf aboard 12-1 shot Presidentsky.