Jockey hurt at Aqueduct

Prominent jockey Cornelio Velasquez has been taken to a hospital after an accident at Aqueduct racetrack in New York. Velasquez was taken from the track by ambulance Friday for an evaluation after complaining of shoulder pain. Two horses named Quick Money and

Half Nelson died as a result of the spill in the eighth race. A third horse, Velasquez’s mount Laila’s Jazz, also fell but apparently escaped serious injury. Angel Serpa and

Israel Rodriguez, the other two jockeys involved, were apparently uninjured. Velasquez has ridden 177 winners this season, and his mounts have earned over $1.4 million. He is ranked 11th nationally in jockey purse earnings this year. Quick Money clipped the heels of a rival in midstretch and went down. Laila’s Jazz stumbled over the fallen horse. In the chain reaction, Half Nelson fell over Laila’s Jazz.

Keeneland has announced that the Toyota Blue Grass stakes race will run April 4, the opening Saturday of its spring meet with the purse for the Kentucky Derby qualifier increasing $250,000 to $1 million. The 11/ mile Grade 1 race for 3-year-olds, which awards 100 points toward the Derby, had run on the second Saturday of the spring meet since 1989, opposite the Arkansas Derby. The $1 million Arkansas Derby, scheduled for April 11, now sits as the lone derby Derby prep of the week three weeks before the Kentucky Derby. One of four graded stakes races moved to April 4, the Blue Grass highlights a slate including the $500,000 Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland for fillies with 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. In a release, Keeneland vice president of racing W.B. Rogers Beasley said moving the Blue Grass will “further enhance its stature as a nationally prominent classic prep” race. Also on the card is the $350,000 Grade 1 Madison for older fillies and mares; the $300,000 Grade 3 Commonwealth for older horses; and the $125,000 Grade 3 Shakertown.