Bridgmohan out for two months

HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida (CMC):

Jamaican teenage riding sensation Jermaine Bridgmohan will be out of the saddle for up two months after a fall at Gulfstream Park.

Coming off a record championship win at the Tropical-at-Calder meet, Bridgmohan suffered several injuries - including a broken collarbone - from a fall at last Wednesday's opening meet at Gulfstream.

The 18-year-old, who completed a phenomenal championship victory at the Calder meet that finished last week Tuesday, suffered several broken bones after he went down hard in Wednesday's fifth race on opening day at Gulfstream Park.

His mount Toms Mulligan, an 11-to-2 bet in the US$20,000 Claiming event over 1 1/8th on turf, appeared to clip the heels of another horse in front of him - going into the first turn.

Bridgmohan, who was riding near the front of the pack, was kicked and trampled by at least two other horses. He was lifted on to a stretcher and taken to Memorial Hospital in Hollywood.

Bridgmohan suffered a broken right hand, two broken ribs on his right side and a fractured left collarbone, according to Gulfstream Clerk of Scales Victor Sanchez, who visited Bridgmohan at hospital.

Sanchez said Bridgmohan sat up in bed and was in relatively good spirits last Thursday morning.

"He's a good, tough kid," said Sanchez in a Gulfstream website story.

Bridgmohan spent two days in hospital and is now recovering at home.

Ironically, Bridgmohan had only decided in late December to stay in Florida for the Gulfstream meet.

He opted to forego his original plan to spend the winter at Aqueduct in New York.

Bridgmohan and his agent Corey Moran wrestled with the decision to leave or stay in Florida, but made the decision to stay south because of the "good response" they were getting from trainers and owners who were preparing to racehorses at Gulfstream.