Jockey Abel Castellano Jr., injured in a racing accident at Aqueduct on Sunday, March 4, will be sidelined indefinitely with a broken collarbone, said the jockey’s agent, Kevin Meyocks.
“He’s going to see an orthopedic specialist tomorrow and get more information as far as a recovery timeline is concerned, but we already know he’s not going to need surgery,” Meyocks said. “It looks like the collarbone is only broken in one place, so it just needs time to heal on its own.”
Castellano was on the lead aboard the Ralph D’Alessandro-trained L C Tornado during the seventh race at Aqueduct when the 5-year-old mare broke down with a fractured knee. The rest of the field managed to avoid collision, and Castellano was removed from the track via ambulance and taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY, where x-rays detected the broken collarbone. L C Tornado was euthanized.
“We were very satisfied with the care Abel received at North Shore,” Meyocks said. “I left for the hospital as soon as I heard he’d been injured, and when I got there a short time later they already had five doctors around him. He was released from the hospital last night around 7:30 after they went over everything with x-rays and CAT scans, put him in a brace, and gave him medications.”
Meyocks said recovery time for a typical collarbone injury varies greatly depending on the individual, but estimated Castellano may be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
“Our original plan was to ride in New York and start down at Gulfstream near the end of the meet in April to get ready for Calder,” he said. “Now, obviously, he won’t ride in New York again this spring. We’ll head back to Florida and go from there.”
With 17 wins, Castellano was 10th in the standings for the Aqueduct meet, from Nov. 29 through Sunday, March 4.
