Kristina McManigell. Photo by Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club.
Rider Kristina McManigell, injured in a spill at Delaware Park on Monday, reportedly is “coming around nicely,” according to Chris McCarron. McCarron posted an update on the Facebook page of the North American Racing Academy, the jockey school which he runs in Lexington, KY.
McCarron, the Hall of Fame jockey who rode a string of great horses in the 1980s and 1990s, helped teach McManigell to be a jockey while she was a student at the Academy. On the Facebook page, McCarron reported that he had spoken with McManigell’s mother.
McManigell “sustained a fractured clavicle, compression fractures to four vertebrae in her lower back and a concussion,” he posted. He added that McManigell’s mother had said that the rider was “coming around nicely after experiencing some difficulty from the concussion.”
In the race, her mount, five year-old maiden Classical Destiny, ran up on rivals as the field was leaving the infield chute during the turf race. The horse stumbled, throwing the rider to the turf near the 1/16th pole. Though the horse was uninjured, McManigell lay motionless; the outriders were forced to halt the race, which was then declared no contest.
McManigell, 24, has won 185 races in her career with more than $4.3 million in purse earnings. She recently finished ninth among all riders at Colonial Downs’s 2013 meet, scoring nine victories from 81 mounts.
glad you are OK after that horrible fall. You are one tough “hombre”. Get well and come back swinging! Listen to your docs and therapists. Good luck from all of us in Upstate Ny!