RICK FREEMAN
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Racing Association says an exercise rider has died after he was thrown from a horse during training at Belmont Park.

The Nassau County Medical Examiner confirmed the death of Juan Vazquez on Friday. NYRA says he was 39 and pronounced dead at a Long Island hospital.

NYRA quoted trainer Bruce Brown as saying the rider was working an unraced 2-year-old named Global Warrior on the training track when the horse ducked into the inside rail, sending Vazquez over it.

The racing organization says the Mexican-born Vazquez trained several horses on his own in addition to his work as an exercise rider.

NYRA spokesman John Durso Jr. extended condolences and called this a “rare, unusual and unfortunate incident.”

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