The Alameda County Fair horse racing community held a memorial service Sunday morning to remember the life and career of jockey Jorge Herrera, 33, who died Thursday after being thrown from a horse named Morito, which according to equibase.com, is co-owned by trainer Jose Godinez and Luciano Naretto.
Herrera was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley with severe head injuries and pronounced dead.
According to Dennis Miller, the fair's racing publicist, the 4th race Sunday, on this final day of the fair, will be dedicated to Herrera.
The day after the fatal accident, before the races began on Friday, there was a to remember Herrera.
According to bloodhorse.com, the Alameda County Fairground management will now be staffing its track ambulance with a licensed paramedic in light of Herrera's accident.
April Mitchell, spokeswoman for the Alameda County Fair, confirms a paramedic has been added to the standard ambulance chaser required by the California Horse Racing Board.
"As standard protocol dictates, there is an ambulance chaser with EMTs after each race per requirements of the California Horse Racing Board. However, Fair Management added one paramedic to the ambulance chaser even though there are five paramedics within 100 feet of the track in an effort to go above and beyond standard protocol," wrote Mitchell.
As seen in the video of the accident on nbcbayarea.com, Herrera was wearing his helmet during the race. The horse was uninjured.
Herrera had competed in more than 1,000 races. Nbcbayarea.com reported that Herrera had won 55 races during his career.
Herrera was from Jalisco, Mexico, and hadn't raced in northern California since around 2007. He was not married and did not have any children.
The last death of a jockey — Juan Gonzalez — that occurred at the Pleasanton race track was exactly 37 years ago on July 5, 1975. He was killed when his horse crashed into a horse that had stumbled and fallen in front of him.
Comments in Herrera's memory can be left here and on the Alameda County Fair's Facebook page.
