NYRA Jockey Dylan Davis Back in Saddle at Gulfstream After Fall

Dylan Davis rode at Gulfstream Park on Coolmore Fountain of Youth Day weekend, taking two mounts Saturday including a GIII Honey Fox Stakes assignment for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., then drew a heavier book of rides Sunday, listed at four to five mounts. The return was the first race-day action since the Nov. 14 spill at Aqueduct that sidelined him for months.

The Aqueduct accident began when Davis’s mount Tarpaulin (by Leofric) fell over a stricken horse in front of them, producing a chain-reaction crash. Medical reports and interviews list multiple severe injuries: fractured ribs, a collapsed and punctured lung, a broken collarbone and a hairline fracture of his upper right arm. Davis summarized his ordeal bluntly: "Three months [off], 11 broken bones, a collapsed lung, a punctured lung, and I lost a kidney." He was hospitalized and released from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center before beginning rehabilitation.

Davis’s comeback followed a short, intense recovery timeline. He hoped for orthopedic clearance to begin galloping on Feb. 19 and started working horses in Florida the next day. He described an almost-daily rehab routine of weightlifting and running and plans to alter his preparation: "I'll be changing some things. You can get a little comfortable about what you're doing. I'll be getting in more strength training for myself and doing a couple more added things to my routine than what I was doing before."

On the racetrack, Davis produced encouraging signs of sharpness. He finished second aboard Slow Kara in Race 2 for Saffie Joseph Jr., and he rode Army Officer, trained by Mike Maker, to a 10th-place finish when that gelding returned as a 41-1 shot. Davis acknowledged the rust but sounded upbeat: "You’re never 100 percent ready. You have to get racing fit again. But I knew I had a good base. Once you get going, you get back into the groove." He added, "It felt great. I’m happy to be back, excited. It felt like forever, but it was really only a few months. That first month was more mental than anything."

Davis’s return also flashed his bigger résumé and support structure. He owns six Grade 1 wins, beginning with Mutamakina in the E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in 2021, and has ridden for trainers Todd Pletcher, Mark Casse and Chad Brown. Veteran agent Michael Migliore has helped open opportunities. Off the track, Davis and his wife Sara live in New York and have two children, Michael and Demi, and racing runs in the family — his sisters Jacqueline and Katie also entered the business.

Looking ahead, Davis plans to ride at Gulfstream through the end of March before deciding whether to resume riding in New York or head to Keeneland. He estimated he is about 90 percent physically and framed the comeback in personal terms: "I've dedicated my life to racing and that's all that I know. … I have some unfinished business. There are some big races I want to win.