Jockey Garrett Gomez, who was involved in a frightening spill in Saturday’s
Eddie Logan S. at Santa Anita, was treated at Arcadia Methodist Hospital and
released later that same evening. On Sunday morning, agent Ron Anderson
indicated that Gomez could return to riding as early as Monday.
Gomez lost several upper front teeth, suffered a gash on his left knee which
did not require sutures, and a swollen left hand after the two-year-old colt
Back at You (Stormy Atlantic) veered in during the stretch and hit the rail,
unseating Gomez. Back at You eventually got to his feet and was not seriously
injured.
Gomez, en route to his third consecutive national money title, was excused
from his seven mounts Sunday, but remained on his five scheduled mounts for
Monday, and Anderson was confident Gomez could ride Monday after speaking with
the jockey late Sunday morning.
“Garrett told me not to turn anything (potential mounts) loose,” Anderson
said. “I feel very optimistic.
“There’s better than a good chance he could ride tomorrow,” the agent noted.
“Amazing as it seems, there was even a small chance he could have ridden today.
He’s tougher than I don’t-know-what.”
Through Saturday, Gomez was $109,014 short of Jerry Bailey’s record of
$23,354,960 for purse earnings in one year, set in 2003.
“In the realm of everything,” Anderson said, “at this point, who cares (about
the record)? I think we dodged a bullet and I feel very fortunate that Garrett’s
going to be OK.”
Gomez will turn 37 on New Year’s Day.