Espinoza out of neck brace, physical therapy ongoing

Jockey Victor Espinoza, sidelined since July 22 with a neck injury sustained in a training accident at Del Mar, will continue physical therapy for another month before an assessment is made on an expected return to race riding, his agent, Brian Beach, said on Wednesday afternoon.

Espinoza met with doctors in the Del Mar area on Wednesday afternoon and was told he will no longer be required to wear a rigid brace that prevented him from moving from his head from side to side. The removal of the brace will allow for greater mobility and an increase in the intensity of the therapy.

“They took the neck brace off, but the doctor didn’t clear him to ride,” Beach said. The doctor “wants to see how he does with the neck brace off for the next month.

“He’s happy with his progress, but he needs another month at least.”

Espinoza was injured when he was unseated from the stakes winner Bobby Abu Dhabi during a morning workout. The horse collapsed and died in the incident. A necropsy on the cause is underway, the California Horse Racing Board said in late August.

Espinoza suffered a fracture of the transverse process of his C-3 vertebra. The popular 46-year-old rider initially had inpatient physical therapy while hospitalized. In recent weeks, doctors have allowed Espinoza to have three sessions of physical therapy per week, an increase from two weekly sessions earlier in August.

One focus of the therapy will be increasing strength in Espinoza’s left arm, Beach said.

“With the continuing therapy schedule he is on, they can increase the weight and exercises,” Beach said. “He needs to get his strength back in his left arm. There are different exercises he can do.

“It’s positive. It’s not going as fast as we originally hoped. The doctor continues to tell him that he’s doing well.

“He said there are no decisions on when he can ride until he sees what he looks like in the next month and letting him get back to his normal routine – his normal workouts and riding and everything that goes with it.

“We were hoping that we’d have more of a definitive-type answer after this. Sometimes, these thing take longer than mapped out.”

Espinoza will remain in the Del Mar area while undergoing therapy, Beach said.

In the last month, Espinoza has grown a goatee because the brace made shaving difficult. Wednesday afternoon, Beach said he received a photo via text from Espinoza holding the brace that had finally been removed.

“I told him, ‘Now you can get a haircut and a shave,’ ” Beach said. “He said, ‘Yessir.’ ” Espinoza is best known as the regular rider of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015 and the two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome. He also appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2015.