Horse put down, jockey hospitalized, after Santa Anita spill

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A spill on the first turn during the first race at Santa Anita on Thursday left jockey Abel Cedillo hospitalized and a 5-year-old filly with what proved to be a fatal leg fracture.

Cedillo’s horse, Saint’s Crown, was running in a pack midway through the first turn of the mile-long race when she got too close to the horse in front, clipping its heel and sending Cedillo flying. Lucy Got Lucky, running comfortably a few lengths back, got caught up in the collision and went down hard at the head of the back straight. Track veterinarians said the horse sustained a fracture of the distal radius bone and had to be put down. Her jockey, Victor Espinoza, was treated at the track for a head abrasion.

Argenta won the $8,000 claiming race.

-- Kevin Baxter