David Cohen Earning Respect

When things went wrong in paddock before Saturday's 6th race David Cohen took things into his own hands.

Emergency medical technicians and other medical personnel based in two ambulances at the track did not respond in a timely fashion to calls to tend to jockey Junior Alvarado, who was kicked in the groin and lower abdomen by his mount, Starlantic, prior to the running of the sixth race. Alvarado lay writhing in pain in the paddock before jockey David Cohen took it upon himself to carry Alvarado - wrapped in a horse blanket - into the jockeys’ room.

“He was on the ground shaking cold, the ground is frozen cold,” Cohen said. “No one came to his aid. I got one of the assistant trainers to put their horse blanket over him. No one responded to any calls over the radio. I had to pick him up and bring him into the room so he would be warm. He actually ended up going into shock when he went into the room.”