Jockey Edgard Zayas has competed in over 15,000 horse races and has nearly 2,700 wins in his career. It’s a good bet that he will remember Sunday’s eighth race at Aqueduct Racetrack more vividly than any of them.
Zayas narrowly escaped disaster when he was launched up and over the front of his horse, Glint, just steps out of the gate.
Drawn into the outside post, Zayas immediately tried to guide Glint closer to the inside rail, but he ran into trouble when he clipped heels with Screaming Uncle.
The bump caused the gelding to panic and stumble, which in turn sent his jockey soaring out of his irons and into the air.
Most of the time, when a jockey is thrown from a horse, they wind up behind the animal.
But in this case, Zayas went over the front of Glint, who somehow managed to avoid stepping on his rider.
Luckily, Glint and Zayas were at the back of the pack, so he wasn’t in danger of getting trampled by any of the other six thoroughbreds taking part in the mile-long race.
The 32-year-old did go headfirst into the dirt at Aqueduct, but he was able to get out of harm’s way without anything in the form of a serious injury.
Zayas took to X to express his gratitude for coming out of the incident without any real issue.
“Thank you to everyone for the prayers, messages, and positive thoughts today,” he posted Monday night. “Thank God I am OK and managed to escape any injuries!”
His agent, Tito Fuentes, told USA Today that Zayas just had a “little cut” on his hand and face.
Zayas did not participate in any of the races on Monday’s card at The Big A.
The race was eventually won by No. 6 Tizmarkus, but Zayas probably feels like the real winner after he walked away from the ordeal with nothing more than a couple of scrapes.