Jockey Joe Talamo suffered a fractured left wrist Aug. 5 at Del Mar after he was unseated during the running of the third race. His mount, Rockstar Ben, fell after sustaining a broken right foreleg in midstretch of the starter-allowance race at a mile on the grass.
Rockstar Ben's injury was catastrophic, necessitating the 3-year-old gelding to be euthanized. Racing for Magenta Racing, Rockstar Ben was trained by Richard Rosales. The son of Closing Argument had broken his maiden in his previous start at Hollywood Park July 3. He had one win from six starts and had earned $17,464.
X-rays taken at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., confirmed Talamo's injury which will sideline him until the Oak Tree-at-Santa Anita meeting beginning Sept. 29. Entering the day’s races at Del Mar, the 20-year-old rider had won 10 races to be tied with Rafael Bejarano for third place in the standings.
For the year Talamo has 96 wins from 774 starts with more than $5.2 in purse earnings. In all, the rider has 726 wins in North America form 5,072 starts. He has won grade I races aboard Sidney's Candy ,I Want Revenge , and was the regular pilot for multiple grade I winner Nashoba’s Keys. He won the Eclipse Award as the leading apprentice rider in 2007.
