NEW YORK (AP) — Jockey John Velazquez won’t need surgery for a broken collarbone that he sustained in a riding accident at Churchill Downs on June 16.
The rider’s wife, Leona Velazquez, said Thursday doctors told the couple that Velazquez’s collarbone should heal in four to six weeks.
She said that Velazquez will have X-rays in two weeks to see how his injury is healing and if everything looks good, he will begin physical therapy.
Velazquez was hurt a week after he rode Union Rags to victory in the Belmont Stakes. He will go into the racing Hall of Fame in August.
The New York-based rider is chairman of the Jockeys’ Guild, which represents riders in the U.S.
