Fundraiser launched for exercise rider Hector Cotto after Parx accident
Hector Cotto was hospitalized with jaw, arm and rib fractures after a loose-horse collision at Parx, and horsemen quickly launched a fundraiser to help him recover.
Horsemen moved quickly to rally around Hector Cotto after a loose-horse collision at Parx left the 26-year-old exercise rider hospitalized in Philadelphia with severe injuries and a long recovery ahead. Cotto was breezing another Thoroughbred during morning training at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, when he could not avoid a head-on impact with a loose horse on Saturday, May 30, 2026.
Trainer Robert “Butch” Reid Jr. said Cotto suffered multiple fractures to his jaw, one arm and several ribs. One account of the training accident said two horses were killed. The crash underscored the danger exercise riders face long before the betting windows open, when the morning work can be just as fast and just as unforgiving as race day itself.
The response from the backstretch has centered on a GoFundMe titled Support Hector Cotto’s Long Road to Recovery, created by Whitney Reid, who is listed in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania. The fundraiser says Cotto faces a long, difficult road to recovery and asks supporters to donate or share the page, a familiar pattern in racing where injuries can suddenly leave riders and stable workers facing medical bills and lost income at the same time.
The accident also fit a troubling pattern at Parx. On April 1, 2025, a loose horse ran the wrong way and forced riders to pull up, turning the race into a no contest. In 2020, trainer Danny Velazquez was injured in a separate loose-horse accident at the track when he was struck while leading a horse onto the training surface. Those incidents have kept attention on the hazards of narrow lanes, loose horses and the daily logistics of breezing multiple runners at once.
Safety remains an active issue in Pennsylvania racing. The Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission adopted an Equine Safety and Welfare Action Plan on January 25, 2022, and implemented it on March 1, 2022. For Parx horsemen, Cotto’s injury is another reminder that the people making the sport run every morning are often the ones taking the greatest risk.
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