LAUREL, MD. 03-26-08---Jockeys Sheldon Russell and Oliver Castillo both will be out four to six months after suffering injuries during separate spills Saturday at Laurel Park.
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Photo Credit: Jim McCue/MJC
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Russell, a promising apprentice rider, fractured the T-8 and T-9 vertebrae in his back when his mount Positive Note broke down on the backstretch and landed on the 20-year-old. Russell missed four months after fracturing the T-5 and T-6 vertebrae here last October. He will be operated on by Dr. Kornelis Poelstra Thursday afternoon at University of Maryland Hospital.
“She rolled on top of me and it seemed like she was there for such a long time,” Russell said. “I knew immediately it was my back. The surgery is going to really help. I am having trouble sleeping with the body brace. It is difficult to do anything.”
Russell burst onto the Maryland scene last fall and ranked third in Laurel standings when he was injured October 4 and missed the remainder of the year. He returned February 14 and moved into sixth place in the standings riding for such top trainers as Scott Lake, Graham Motion, Benny Feliciano, Rodney Jenkins, Howard Wolfendale and King Leatherbury.
“Frustrating is the perfect word,” said Tracy Campola, Russell’s agent. “It would be nice to see where we would be at if we could ride for more than two months at a time. Sheldon is dealing with it really well. We are lucky that he walked away from this and happy he is going to be okay.”
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Photo Credit: Jim McCue/MJC
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One race after Russell was injured, Castillo was tossed from his mount, Fourthirteen, near the finish line. He underwent surgery on his right elbow Saturday evening. The 31-year-old has won nearly 900 career races since arriving in the United States from Chile in 1997.
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