Tyler Kaplan, the 16-year-old apprentice jockey who won with his first mount March 4, escaped injury when his horse in the first race at Santa Anita March 13 broke down just past the wire.
In his fifth career race, Kaplan was pitched forward when his mount, Google Me, went down. He walked off under his own power and was not seriously injured, according to the track's publicity office. He took off his mount, Casual Encounter, in the day's nightcap. Kaplan's only other ride on the program, Powerofvoodoo in the Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (gr. I), had been scratched earlier in the day.
Google Me, racing wide at odds of 57-1, finished seventh in the $40,000 maiden claiming race for 3-year-old California-breds at 6 1/2 furlongs. Owned and trained by Ricardo Zamora, the son of Grand Reward was reportedly euthanized.
A native of Norco, Calif., Kaplan attended former jockey Frank Garza’s jockey school in Tehachapi and is currently interning at Chris McCarron’s North American Riding Academy near Lexington, Ky.
Tyler Kaplan
