Jockey Warhol Trampled by Sale Filly; Out Indefinitely

Prairie Meadows jockey Vicki Warhol is out indefinitely after having a shoulder and five ribs broken while being trampled by a horse in its stall.

Warhol and her daughter, Teddi, were helping prepare yearlings for the Aug. 27 Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association sale. Warhol said she was getting ready to lead a filly out of her stall so she could clean her up when the filly reared up and struck her on the shoulder and ribs. Warhol was knocked to the ground, where the filly continued striking her.

"She became unglued on me and started pounding me to the ground," Warhol said. "She kind of meant it."

The stall door was closed, so Warhol was trapped until help arrived.

"It seemed like I was down for a long time," she said. "I started yelling, 'Open the door!' All I wanted was to get out of there. I'm just glad it wasn't Teddi."

Warhol had a piece of bone atop her right shoulder broken off as well as the five broken ribs and a bruise on her head. She spent six hours at Mercy Medical Center but is recuperating at her Altoona, Iowa, home.

Warhol, who was Prairie Meadows' leading rider in 1993, 1994, and 1996, said she didn't know how long the recovery would take.

"I don't like being on the ground," she said. "I'd rather be on their back."

In other Iowa news, Tom Davis, the Quarter Horse racing secretary at Prairie Meadows, will leave to become the director of racing at two tracks in New Mexico.

Davis will become director of racing and racing secretary at Ruidoso Downs and Zia Park, two tracks where purses are buoyed by slot machines. Ruidoso Downs is the home of Quarter Horse racing's biggest event, the All American Futurity.

Davis is in his 11th year at Prairie Meadows and has alternated between being racing secretary and track steward. Prairie Meadows' mixed meet ends Sept. 9.

"Ruidoso is the premier racing as far as Quarter Horse racing in the West," Davis said. "Zia's first year was last year, and I think they will probably be one of the better racetracks in the West in the next couple years. It's a boomtown right now. They have a lot of oil drilling right now."