Investigators have found no wrongdoing by jockeys in this week’s death of a 17-year-old apprentice jockey riding at an Indiana horse track.
Indiana Horse Racing Commission senior steward Stan Bowker told The Indianapolis Star the three-member board of stewards found the death of Juan Saez was “an unfortunate accident.”
The board handed over its findings to the Indiana Horse Racing Commission after reviewing videotapes of the race at the Indiana Grand Racing & Casino track in Shelbyville.
Saez was thrown from Montezuma Express while rounding a turn during the eighth race on Tuesday.
Bowker said Saez’s horse inadvertently clipped the heels of the horse in front of him.
Saez was one of three jockeys to die in riding accidents during the week with Queensland’s Carly-Mae Pye suffering fatal injuries when her horse broke down during a jump-out at Rockhampton on Monday.
Just two days later, South Australian apprentice Caitlin Forrest died after a fall in a race at Murray Bridge.