'Chase Jockey McCarron Has Surgery on Arm

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Matt McCarron, the two-time Eclipse Award champion steeplechase jockey who was injured in the opening race of the Saratoga meet on Wednesday, underwent surgery Friday morning to repair a broken left arm.

He's optimistic that he could return to ride 2004 champion jumper Hirapour in the $150,000 New York Turf Writers Cup (NSA-I) Aug. 31.

McCarron suffered two fractures of the ulna bone when he went down at the sixth hurdle aboard The Next Man in Wednesday's first race. A plate with eight screws was inserted in the fractured arm.

"Right now, I'm devastated; but this procedure, rather than putting the arm in a full cast, gives me a chance to be back in time to ride Hirapour in the New York Turf Writers," said McCarron, who is presently atop the NSA jockey standings. He said he hopes to begin minor therapy in a week's time.

This was McCarron's second serious injury this summer. He broke six ribs in a spill on June 26 at Colonial Downs.

"I had been very fortunate the first 13 years of my career, but it seems to be all catching up to me recently," said McCarron.

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