A catastrophic equine injury to the trailing runner in the third race at Presque Isle Downs on Tuesday hospitalized a jockey with multiple broken bones and required the euthanization of a 5-year-old mare who unseated him after she “took a bad step” at the quarter pole, according to the Equibase chart of the race.The accident involving Laughing Fit (Practical Joke) and jockey Huber Villa-Gomez led to the jockeys refusing to ride the remaining five races on the Sept. 8 card at Presque Isle over concerns related to safety protocol and medical care.Chelsea Hackbarth of the Paulick Report had the scoop, quoting both a regional manager for The Jockeys' Guild and a spokesperson from the corporate owner of Presque Isle, each of whom had a different account of what happened to Villa-Gomez while the veteran rider with 25 years of experience was awaiting on-track medical treatment.The Paulick Report quoted Herbie Rivera Jr. of the Guild as saying that the riding colony was unhappy with Villa-Gomez's care following the spill.Hackbarth wrote that “Rivera said Villa-Gomez was moved without a neck brace and expressed concern about the length of time before a transfer ambulance arrived to transport him to the hospital. Rivera said the incident occurred at 4:26 p.m. and said the transport ambulance did not arrive until 5:05 p.m.”On Wednesday, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) defended the medical response, emphasizing to the Paulick Report that the on-site ambulance arrived within 11 seconds of the spill.“As is the case in many jurisdictions, the on-track medical unit provides immediate emergency care, while transport to the hospital is performed by the local county or municipal EMS agency,” Breck Thomas-Ross, CDI's senior director of communications, wrote to the Paulick Report.Hackbarth reported that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is gathering information to determine whether established protocols were followed.Villa-Gomez's agent, Rocco Pignataro, posted a social media update Tuesday night about the jockey's condition.“Unfortunately he does have some broken bones and ribs causing him a lot of pain, but he's alert and in good spirits. Thank you to everyone reaching out, and for the love and support for Huber,” Pignataro wrote.Laughing Fit was from a one-horse stable. She was owned and trained by Julia Mauro, whose only win in 44 starts as a trainer came 25 years ago.Mauro did not start a horse between 2001 and 2023, and has been winless in 30 starts since 2024. The only other horse she has started this year was vanned off at Penn National on June 12.On June 19, Mauro claimed Laughing Fit for $4,000 out of a winning effort at Penn as the 11-10 favorite.Off for more than two months, the mare resurfaced in an Aug. 26 $44,000 allowance race on the turf at Penn, where she finished sixth of eight at 113-1 odds.In her Sept. 8 start at Presque Isle, Laughing Fit dropped to the $5,000 claiming level on the Tapeta surface and was off at 40-1 odds, the longest shot in the six-runner field.The post Presque Isle Jockeys Back In Action After Safety-Related Refusal To Ride appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.