From Arlington Park
Apprentice jockey Michael Straight was taken to Lutheran General Hospital following an incident in the eighth race Aug. 27 at Arlington Park.
Straight, 23, was riding Im No Gentleman in the 1 1/16-mile race when his mount appeared to have clipped heels with another horse in the vicinity of the quarter pole and the rider fell to the track.
Straight was tended to by track paramedics and after being stabilized was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge for further evaluation.
Hospital officials indicated that Straight’s vital signs were good and that after being checked for head and back injuries that the rider would likely undergo surgery to stabilize his back sometime in the next 24 hours.
Straight’s parents and twin brother Matthew, who is also a jockey, are en route to Chicago to be with the rider through his recovery.
Further information will be made available as it is received from the rider’s family.