Jockey Tyler Baze Hospitalized After Freak Accident At Del Mar

His mount, Night Justice, threw his head back quickly and struck the jockey in the face knocking him to the ground.  He avoided additional injury despite the thrashing horse stepping on his leg and kicking him while on the ground.

The original prognosis included an injury to Baze’s ankle or shin, as well as what was described as ‘dental damage’ but relatively speaking the eventual diagnosis wasn’t quite as grave.  Baze suffered a broken nose and fractures in the orbital bones near his right eye.  The eye was swollen shut, making Baze look more like a featherweight boxer than a jockey.  He met with plastic surgeon Jeff Umansky on Monday, but is expected to make a full recovery. Umansky treated fellow jockey Rafael Bejarano when he suffered a similar injury during the 2009 Del Mar meet.

Bejarano along with jockeys Alonso Quinonez and Jose Verenzuela visited Baze in the hospital on Saturday night.  Baze’s agent Vic Stauffer describes what he saw:

“I was amazed at what I saw. Rafael was holding Tyler’s hand and he had his other hand on Tyler’s forehead. When bleeding from Tyler’s broken nose would develop, Rafael would take a tissue and wipe it away. It was amazing; he got Tyler to become much more comfortable with the situation.”

“I’ve told the story to a few people (Sunday) and each time I started to choke up and it got harder to tell. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Bejarano said that he understands what Baze is going through:

“They inform me that he had the same injuries I had last year at Del Mar. So I know how bad he is feeling and I feel so sorry for him. Sometimes when you fall down, I know you don’t want to see too many people. But in your heart you feel good when people come to see you.”

“I felt so bad because he was still bleeding and I wished I could do something for him.”

Bejarano was relieved after his hospital visit:

“After going to the hospital and seeing him, I feel more comfortable. He doesn’t look that bad and I think he’s going to be OK. He has a very good doctor and hopefully he can recover soon and go back to the horses.”

“I’m going to keep praying for him and he’s got a lot of support from his family.”

“He’s a good guy. When you get hurt, you are afraid of losing your business, but I know the trainers will support Tyler when he comes back. They know him, they know he is a hard worker.”

The current prognosis is that Baze can return to work in three to eight weeks depending on how quickly he recovers.  Bejarano missed five weeks of action after the similar injury he suffered in 2009.

2010-07-27

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