Injured jockey still in serious condition; horse euthanized

• Jockey in serious condition after accident
• Horse had shoulder injury and had to be euthanized
• It was the only incident that caused injury in the four-day race meet
• Follow Scott Mansch on Twitter at @GFTrib_SMansch for more sports news

A jockey who was hurt during a horse race Sunday afternoon at Montana ExpoPark was in serious condition with a head injury Monday at a Great Falls hospital.

The accident, during which veteran jockey Bill Christian fell and caused an injury to his mount that required the horse to be euthanized, happened in the fifth race Sunday at the State Fair Race Meet.

"It was a freak accident," said Kelly Manzer, director of racing for the race meet. "The horses clipped heels from what the stewards told me."

Christian is in his 50s and originally from Yakima, Wash., Manzer said. The jockey now works out of New Mexico.

Karen Ogden, a Benefis Health System spokeswoman, said Monday afternoon Christian was in serious condition.

According to the American Hospital Association, the term serious means the patient's "vital signs may be unstable or not within normal limits. Patient is seriously ill. Indicators are questionable."

The horses had passed the grandstand and were on the first turn during the 5.25-furlong race when the accident occurred and Christian was tossed to the ground.

"It didn't look like any animals hit him but that he landed really hard on his back," said Tom Tucker, executive secretary for the Montana State Board of Horse Racing. "They wear these flack jackets and, of course, helmets which help protect, but even with that, going 25 or 30 mph and hitting the ground is pretty rough on the body."

The horse, an 8-year-old called "Vader Grade," was trained by Harlan Bird Rattler and owned by Wesley D. Edwards, according to the race meet program.

The horse suffered a shoulder injury.

"It was a terrible injury and it had to be euthanized," Manzer said. "We all feel badly about that."

It was the only incident that caused injury in the four-day race meet, during which there were about 40 races.

"We spend a lot of time and effort to try to protect the participants, both the animals and the jockeys," said Tucker, who is from Corvallis but was in Great Falls for both weekends of the meet. "But you've got animals running and sometimes they will trip and you have accidents. It's extremely unfortunate, but that's just part of this industry."

The Great Falls Turf Club, which operated the meet under an agreement with fairground owner Cascade County, which owns the fairgrounds, carries jockey insurance.

"It's very expensive but you have to have it to cover all aspects of the meet," Turf Club President Sparky Kottke said.

Said Tucker: "If you went back 20 or 30 years ago, that's part of the reason a lot of the tracks have closed down, because of the cost of the insurance. You hope you never ever use it, but in this case it will be used to help with the medical costs," Tucker said.

-David Murray contributed to this story