Jockey dies after fall in Indiana race

A 17-year-old apprentice jockey died after falling to the track during a race at Indiana Grand racetrack, the Marion County Coroner’s Office said Wednesday.

Juan Saez, the younger brother of well-known jockey Luis Saez, suffered fatal injuries on Tuesday when he fell off his horse during the eighth race at the Shelbyville track.

Montezuma Express, ridden by Saez, clipped the heels of the horse in front of him, knocking the jockey to the track, where he was apparently struck by trailing horses.

Saez, a native of Panama, was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was pronounced dead late Tuesday night, the coroner’s office said.

“Juan Saez possessed an immense gift for riding horses and there is no telling how bright his future as a jockey would have been,” the National Thoroughbred Racing Association President Alex Waldrop said in a statement.