And track owners have largely ignored the more subtle but sinister injuries in a community they consider a transient hodgepodge of independent contractors. Jockeys often ride out concussions rather than forgo a paycheck. Head trauma has long been shrugged off by the industry.

But a number still go unreported, said Dr. Falls are inevitable.Īccording to a 2016 study by the University of Kentucky, there were 36 reported concussions among jockeys at tracks in the United States between 20. Horse racing is steeped in risk: men and women hunched on 1,000-pound animals thundering around tight turns at 40 mph. Without Maryland's new mandate, he conceded, “I would have gone right back to the track.” “… Yeah, I was dizzy, but your natural instinct is to say, ‘I want to ride.'?” “It was tough to sit,” said McCarthy, who's now riding at Pimlico Race Course. Six days later, having recovered, he was back in the saddle. No mounts meant no money, and McCarthy was to ride the next day at Keeneland (Ky.), which has no concussion policy.

Last fall, the state became the first in the nation to establish a concussion protocol for jockeys and, as such, McCarthy was required to rest for as long as a week before being cleared to ride again in Maryland. Immediately, McCarthy, one of Maryland's top jockeys, underwent a battery of tests and was told he'd suffered a concussion. Last month, during a post parade at Laurel Park, Trevor McCarthy's horse reared and tossed the 22-year-old rider, who slammed into the ground. Jockeys don't need to be racing to take a spill.

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