Exercise rider Alfredo Luevano, 53, died early Friday after he was injured in a morning training accident at Los Alamitos.
Luevano was exercising a horse trained by Mark Casselman on the backstretch Friday morning. He was on the ground when medical personnel attended to him. He was transported to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Further details of the incident are not yet known, according to a statement from Los Alamitos. Luevano's death was previously reported by Steve Andersen of Daily Racing Form, who reported that Casselman did not witness the incident.
Fly from the Fire, the filly Luevano was exercising, was uninjured according to a statement from the track. She was entered in the seventh race at Los Alamitos on Saturday, a 300-yard maiden race for juvenile fillies. The statement from Los Alamitos said that she will be scratched from the race as a precaution.
A former jockey, Luevano got a California exercise riders' license in March of this year. Including thoroughbreds, quarter horses, Arabians and mixed-breed races, Luevano made 33 recognized race starts at tracks in Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. His most recent came in 2013. His best finish in the United States came in the Arapahoe Derby Challenge on May 25, 2013, where he finished second beaten a neck on favored Carters Playmate. Luevano also made 19 quarter-horse starts at Mexico City across 2010 and 2012. Those include a win January 31, 2010 in a claiming race with Secreto Cash.
Luevano is survived by his father Augustine; his wife Marisela Martinez; their five children Lisbet, Alfredo Jr., Alex, Aldo and Camila; and six grandchildren. Los Alamitos plans to have a moment of silence for Luevano before racing begins Sunday.
