Saturday evening brings the return of Leg Up Day to Canterbury Park. The Leg Up Fund was founded in 2014 by a coalition of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners, trainers, Canterbury Park and jockeys to set up a fund that would be used to help local jockeys that may get injured through the course of their work at the racetrack.

There have been a few incidents this season where local jocks have been injured and the Fund was standing by to spring into action.

While the Fund helps with the aftermath of an incident on the racetrack, when there is an accident on the racetrack, be it in the morning or the afternoon, there is a wave of support that rushes to the track to gain control of an immediately chaotic situation.  At the heart of that chaos are the emergency services crew at Canterbury Park.

Paramedic Keri King and Emergency Medical Technician John Polz are usually the first trained personnel on the scene and they immediately initiate the protocols that were developed and are overseen by Allina Heath Services.

In a situation during racing, the emergency personnel are following the race and the state vet.  Usually, the trip around the oval is quick and uneventful.  But occasionally the dreaded call comes over the radio from the vet truck.

“Horse down!” or “Rider down!” And the team goes into action.

The emergency personnel move to assess and assist the injured rider while members of the vet crew attend to the horse.  At times the horse may get loose, and the outriders get involved as well.

The first step in the emergency is to assess the situation to make sure that it’s safe to move in.

“If a horse flips in the gate,” said King, “we don’t go in until the horse is contained. Once we feel that it’s safe to go in, we go in and take care of the rider.”

A unique situation emerged on June 23, when Malinent, ridden by Ruben Fuentes, suffered a catastrophic breakdown coming out of the turn for home, sending Fuentes crashing into the ground at 35 miles per hour and then flipping over the top of him. Hpnotiq Rhythym, ridden by Roimes Chirinos also came over the top, pitching Chirinos to the track as well.

“The horse just disappeared from underneath me,” said Fuentes, “and I remember asking Roimes if he was okay and he showed me he hurt his elbow.  Thank God I could feel my entire body.”

While Chirinos suffered minor injuries, Fuentes was severely injured.

“They wanted to airlift me because I had a fractured C5, C6 vertebrae, collarbone and skull fracture,” described Fuentes, “but the helicopter was going to take too long so we went off in the ambulance.  On the way I could still feel my legs and I trusted in my faith in God.”

Where the accident occurred, the gate crew and test barn staff were all in close proximity and, naturally, wanted to assist.

It was a very challenging scene.  Given the location of the incident, there were folks from several areas on the racetrack all trying to help that made the situation loud and difficult to control.  Additionally, it was a situation where the injured horse and rider were in very close proximity to each other.  Usually, the distance between the two is enough where the vet and gate crew can attend to the injured horse while the emergency medical services team can take care of the injured ride.  In the case of this particular spill, the centers overlapped, generating the appearance of confusion.

“The gate crew did an excellent job in taking care of the horse’” said Polz.

Head starter, Darrin Hall, stood between the horse and Ruben to provide protection.  If the horse was going to act out or thrash about, it would have been Hall who would have taken the brunt of any action.

“We had to do an emergency removal in this situation since the horse was so close that we couldn’t effectively treat him on the racetrack,” said King who, as the paramedic on scene, runs the trauma.  “We loaded him onto a backboard and then into the ambulance where we could start the assessment.”

“I went to the C spine right away,” said Polz. “His head wasn’t going anywhere. I was literally the collar until we could get the collar on him.”

Throughout the assessment and transportation first Polz, and then King, provided additional support for the cervical spine area in addition to the neck brace and back board.

“Once that collar is on, it cannot be removed until the patient’s neck and spine are cleared at the hospital,” said King. “It’s the same with the backboard.”

In Ruben’s case, it was going to be a bumpy ride with construction areas en route and so she acted as additional support during transport.

Usually, the Canterbury Park based EMS team stays at the track once care is transferred to the ambulance team, but in two cases this season, extra hands were needed and, as a certified paramedic, King joined the ambulance crew for the trip.

This was the second time this season that King has had to make the trip to the Hennepin County Trauma Center to assist, the first was for a patron.

If there was only one paramedic on site, racing would not be able to continue until she returned.  Many nights there are more than one medic on site so racing can continue safely if it is advisable to do so.

It is entirely possibly, the attending emergency doctor mentioned to the Canterbury Park management team after Ruben was admitted and the immediacy over, that without the quick actions of the on-track team in a difficult and unique situation of horse and rider being so close, that paralysis could have been an outcome.

“There is a good team here,” said Andrew Offerman, Senior Director of racing. “I think that there is some confusion from people when they see an ambulance on scene that we have to turn over the patient from the ‘fake’ paramedics to the ‘real’ paramedics.  I would like people to understand that there is no difference between the quality of care the patient is getting.”

King has been a certified paramedic for eight years while John has been a certified EMT since 1986. Each have seen their share of trauma on the racetrack. The uniqueness of jockey injuries was not lost on the HCTC team.

Many emergency rooms will take difficult or unusual cases and use them as a teaching aide to show how actions and teamwork between filed teams and the hospital can impact a patient’s recovery. There is a review and a question-and-answer period in an auditorium and the HCTC is considering utilizing the Fuentes case as one of these studies.

After the accident and initial assessments and care are completed, the jockey and their family still have a long road ahead of them and that is where the Leg Up Fund steps up.

There are months of follow-up care as well as rehabilitation and recovery. Jockeys, as independent contractors, are not receiving any income during this time. The Fund provides direct resources to Canterbury Park jockeys who are hurt while riding and helps give them a “Leg Up” while they recuperate.  Each year, Canterbury Park and Minnesota’s horsemen team up to benefit the Leg Up Fund.  It’s a day when fans can participate and give back to the sport that they enjoy every weekend as well.

“I want to thank everyone for the support and god bless them all,” said Fuentes.  “I am very thankful.  It shows how strong a community we are here.  We are a family.  Everyone was there for me when I needed them, and I appreciate it very much.”

Due to the pandemic, there has been a two-year hiatus for Leg Up Day, but on Saturday the popular day makes its return to Canterbury in conjunction with “Jockeys Across America” Day. The Fund announced on its Facebook page:

“This year Leg Up Day has an exciting additional component, in that July 30th falls on the same day of the ‘Jockeys Across America’, organized by the national PDJF (Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund 501(c)3), a tribute to National Disability Independence Day, celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“The Leg Up Fund is thrilled that our events coincide this year, and proud to support PDJF through our own event. Millions of disabled Americans lives were improved by the ADA, giving them access to the world outside their homes, including over 60 racehorse jockeys who have suffered catastrophic career ending injuries, currently supported by PDJF.

“The Leg Up Fund and PDJF are two sides of the same coin. The Leg Up Fund provides Canterbury Park’s injured jockeys immediate, temporary assistance while they recover to get back in the saddle. In the event of a career ending permanent injury, the PDJF takes over from there, providing benefits, financial and emotional support that will follow these jockeys for the rest of their lives.”

There will be a raffle, direct donations, jockey sponsorships and the popular bouncy-ball jockey’s race.  Racing begins at 5:10 PM Saturday night and the events will be occurring all evening long on what is expected to be a gorgeous Minnesota summer evening.