"He went in at 7:30 this morning and came out around 11 (a.m.), and everything went well," said the jockey's agent, Jerry Hissam. "He's still hospitalized and will stay there tonight and, hopefully, get released tomorrow morning."We're estimating that he'll be out for six to eight weeks right now," Hissam said. "It'll probably be closer to six, knowing him. We're hoping to be back in time for the first week of Oaklawn [Jan. 19]."Borel, the leading rider of Churchill's current fall meet, was thrown when his mount broke down during the fifth race on Churchill's Nov. 23 card. The 40-year-old jockey was aboard Janis Whitham's Pew when the 3-year-old gelding fell along the hedge and unseated his rider on the far turn in the 1 1/8 mile turf event.
Pew, a Kentucky-bred son of Pulpit trained by Ian Wilkes, suffered a fatal injury to his left front ankle and was euthanized. Borel was immediately transported to Norton Audubon, where x-rays revealed five separate fractures to his right wrist.Borel, a native of St. Martin, La., piloted James Tafel's Street Sense to a record-smashing 10-length victory in the $2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs. He rode one winner on Thanksgiving Day before his injury and was leading the jockeys' colony for Churchill's current fall meet with 23 wins. As of Friday afternoon, Borel still held a two-race advantage over runner-up Shaun Bridgmohan. Borel's only previous riding title at Churchill came during the fall meet of 1999, while Bridgmohan looks to win the first Churchill Downs title of his career.
