Maturity, growth emerge from Del Mar Race Track tragedy
By Art Wilson DEL MAR, CALIF. » Assael Espinoza already has shown what he can do on a race track since his career began in February at Santa Anita. After Saturday’s horrific spill in the 10th race at Del Mar, he’s shown he’s just as impressive off the track as well.
Espinoza, the 18-yearold apprentice jockey who was aboard the horse that caused last weekend’s accident, resulting in injuries to two other riders and the death of a horse, has assumed full responsibility for the nightmarish incident and shown maturity beyond his years.
The night it happened, when fellow jockeys Geovanni Franco and Corey Nakatani were taken to the hospital, Espinoza was there checking up on his peers. When he couldn’t see Nakatani, who was undergoing tests that night, he returned the following day to see him.
“I thought that was a very classy thing to do for such a young kid,” Franco told Hank Wesch of Del Mar publicity.
Espinoza, the nephew of Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza, wasn’t finished. He also made sure to pay a visit to Richard Baltas, the trainer of the horse, Irish Spring, killed in the accident.
“They were all positive,” Espinoza’s agent, Brian Beach, said Thursday morning from Del Mar. “They all told him they appreciated him coming to see them and they all said they don’t hold any blame on him, that these things happen, and they’re glad it wasn’t any worse than it was.”
Franco suffered only a bruised foot in the accident and was back riding the next day. Nakatani, 47, wasn’t as lucky. He will undergo spinal fusion surgery within the next couple of weeks and probably miss at least two to three months.
“Corey’s been one of his mentors a little bit in the (jockeys’) room,” Beach said. “Corey just encouraged him to keep doing what he’s been doing, that he’s been riding great, and don’t lose that edge that he has.
“He didn’t blame him for anything. He said it could have happened to any of us.”
Matt Nakatani, Corey’s son who also serves as his agent, told Jeff Nahill of the San Diego Union-Tribune that his dad is a quick healer and “will be able to ride again.”
“(Accidents) are part of the game,” Matt Nakatani said. “In no way does my dad think (Espinoza) did it on purpose.”
Espinoza understandably was shaken by the accident.
“He felt horrible about it,” Beach said. “I don’t think people understand sometimes the person that’s in the middle of it all feels the worst. Nothing like that had obviously happened in his life before. He never even had a suspension from the stewards before. He’d always been praised by the other jockeys and officials about how safe he’d been riding and how straight he kept his horses.”
But horses do funny things. The one Espinoza rode Saturday, Aussie Fox, has a habit of drifting out on the turn. He was disqualified from fifth to 10th in his previous race for doing just that.
In the race in question, Aussie Fox again wanted to drift out, so Espinoza, according to Beach, tried to straighten him with his left rein and cocked his stick. That resulted in Aussie Fox drifting in, which triggered the whole incident.
“It just happened to be a crucial point when they’re all straightening up coming off the turn and (Espinoza) wasn’t quite clear of Corey’s horse,” Beach said. “So when that happened, when the horse shied from the twirling of the stick, then Corey was right there.”
The stewards on Sunday suspended Espinoza for 10 days, a penalty Beach has appealed. A hearing will be held in the next month or so to determine how much time Espinoza will be forced to miss.
“We would like to get that reduced if we could,” Beach said. “He understands the full gravity of everything. I don’t normally challenge suspensions, but in this case, just because of the length of it, I thought it was appropriate.”
In the meantime, Espinoza will learn from the experience and move forward. He has a tremendous support team, led by three jockeys – Victor and a pair of retired riders, his dad Leo and another uncle, Jose.
“You worry about something like that for the development of a young guy like Asa, but he’s pretty strong mentally and he did all the right things,” Beach said. “(Plus), he’s living with three jockeys and they all have quite a bit of experience when it comes to things like that.”