Injured jockey’s spirits ‘as good as can be’
Apprentice jockey Jose Asencio was competing last weekend at Hastings Racecourse when his horse clipped heels with another horse, sending the young jockey and his steed tumbling into the dirt.
While the horse, a three-year-old named McCallum, walked away uninjured, Asencio wasn’t so lucky. The ensuing spill fractured a vertebra in his back and broke his leg, among other injuries. He was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital, where he had multiple surgeries. He now has a steel rod in his back and a large screw is holding his broken tibia together, said his agent Ryan Deyotte.
“He is still in a lot of pain but his spirits are as good as can be,” Deyotte said Sunday. “He is feeling fortunate ... it could have been worse. He’s looking at the bright side.”
Asencio is from Mexico City, his dad Gabriel Asencio rides at Hastings, and until the crash he was living his dream.
“It’s his childhood dream. He has grown up wanting to be a jockey. He is determined to ride again. I don’t think anything will stop him,” said Deyotte.
Asencio’s father has been at his bedside since the crash and his mom is arriving Monday from Mexico. The 20-year-old is already up, sitting in a chair and going for short walks despite the pain he’s in.
“He’s a very positive, bright, cheerful, happy kid who loves his job, loves riding horses,” said Deyotte.
Deyotte said WorkSafeBC does not insure jockeys because the job is too dangerous. Asencio has basic medical coverage and will receive some benefits from the Jockeys’ Guild but because he is a new jockey and hasn’t paid into the benefit plan for long, it won’t be much.
His physiotherapy and other medical expenses will be “a small fortune,” Deyotte said, so his racetrack friends are hoping to raise enough money to defray those costs and pay for his mother’s trip from Mexico.
Donation boxes have been placed throughout the race track. “The horse racing industry as a whole wishes Jose a speedy recovery and we look forward to the day he returns to Hastings Racecourse to resume his promising career,” said a post on the Hastings Racecourse Facebook page.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up in Asencio’s honour. At the time of this writing, the fundraiser is just over halfway to its $20,000 goal.
Last August, both Jose and his dad Gabriel won races at Hastings on the same day, bringing back memories of another jockeying family, James Dailey and his sons J.R. and Randy, who rode against each other many times in Vancouver in the late 1970s.
At the time of Asencio’s injury, he was in sixth place among all riders at Hastings Racecourse, and quickly becoming a jockey many trainers wanted on their horses.
In a photo from his hospital, taken shortly after his horrific accident, Asencio can be seen flashing a peace sign and a smile.