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him causing him to suffer a broken femur in his right leg and three broken ribs. However, Wilson never once considered retiring in the 54 weeks he spent recovering. Just a few years later on May 8, 2004, at fifty years old, Wilson suffered a career-ending injury after being thrown from his horse for a second time. During the second race his mount, Advance to Go, stumbled out of the starting gate. While his horse was stumbling Wilson was tossed from the saddle, whereupon his mount proceeded to inadvertently step on the jockey's head as he lay prone on the racetrack. He was flown from the
Pimlico Race Course via a State Police MedEvac (medical evacuation) helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He spent the next week at the facility diagnosed to be in critical condition. He was discharged from the trauma center on May 25, 2004. He was then moved to Kernan Hospital for physical rehabilitation, where he remained for some time until being released on June 20, 2004. Although he was required to undergo several surgeries his vision was distorted in his right eye due to severe cornea damage. He suffered a tremendous amount of additional nerve damage to the right side of his face. These sustained injuries combined left him unable to continue racing. During this time Wilson visited a psychiatrist to help overcome the emotional and mental trauma the event had caused him. Shortly after his bad incident, Wilson's compassion for racehorses compelled him to become a steward.
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Wilson's luck began to turn on him late in his career with his first injury occurring in
October 2001, the twenty-eighth year of his career. He was thrown from his horse, Home Verse, at Pimlico Race Course when the horse broke a leg in the race's final turn. Wilson was thrown into the horse behind
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with which he had thirteen wins and two second-place finishes. Wilson fondly refers to her as “all heart, one in a million.” Wilson has seven Triple Crown mounts during his career, with five in the
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in his native
Oklahoma. Wilson had a 4,939-win career, which ranked him at the time, twentieth all-time amongst jockeys. He also earned 4,250 seconds and 3,461 thirds. His top winning mount was the
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Wilson was able to achieve success from an early age, starting his thirty-five-year career in 1972 when he achieved his first win as a teenager racing
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449:“’It's a rush being a rider,’ he said. ‘If you ride enough, you know you're going to get hurt. But you can get killed crossing a road, too.’”
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Rick Wilson married nurse Jean Wilson and together they have four children. He and his family live in
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for high standards of professional conduct in racing and life. Wilson is quoted in
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and a member of the inaugural class of inductees into the
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231:Philadelphia Park Budweiser Breeders' Cup Handicap
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204:Finger Lakes Budweiser Breeders' Cup Handicap
144:Baltimore Budweiser Breeders' Cup Handicap
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423:American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly
208:Martha Washington Stakes (1994, 1998)
499:Equibase statistics for Rick Wilson
441:. In 2005 he was nominated for the
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443:George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
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339:Garden State Park Champion jockey
334:Philadelphia Park Champion jockey
611:People from Sykesville, Maryland
606:People from McAlester, Oklahoma
266:Hollywood Turf Express Handicap
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344:Monmouth Park Champion jockey
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390:(born August 12, 1953, in
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321:Barbara Fritchie Handicap
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179:John B. Campbell Handicap
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557:Philly.com July 15, 2005
487:Parx Racing Hall of Fame
400:Parx Racing Hall of Fame
394:) is a retired American
357:Parx Racing Hall of Fame
221:Boiling Springs Handicap
194:Reeve Schley, Jr. Stakes
159:Fountain of Youth Stakes
104:Boiling Springs Handicap
489:Retrieved June 28, 2018
281:Belmont Futurity Stakes
236:General George Handicap
189:Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
119:Cherry Hill Mile Stakes
251:Canadian Turf Handicap
211:Salvator Mile Handicap
124:Molly Pitcher Handicap
286:Cliff Hanger Handicap
174:Federico Tesio Stakes
94:Anne Arundel Handicap
468:Sykesville, Maryland
276:Lamplighter Handicap
154:Wood Memorial Stakes
134:Lamplighter Handicap
431:Pimlico Race Course
392:McAlester, Oklahoma
199:True North Handicap
149:Garden State Stakes
129:Polynesian Handicap
109:Betsy Ross Handicap
53:McAlester, Oklahoma
364:Significant horses
291:Eatontown Handicap
84:Long Branch Stakes
79:Minuteman Handicap
74:Graded Stakes wins
447:The Baltimore Sun
439:Philadelphia Park
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369:Appealing Skier,
256:Red Bank Handicap
139:Delaware Handicap
99:Vineland Handicap
67:Major racing wins
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433:and two in the
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47:August 12, 1953
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49:(age 71)
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273:(1998, 1999)
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131:(1990, 1991)
111:(1988, 1989)
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596:1953 births
421:, the 2001
388:Rick Wilson
375:Storm Tower
59:Career wins
23:Rick Wilson
590:Categories
474:References
336:(9 times)
43:1953-08-12
29:Occupation
453:Accidents
419:Xtra Heat
379:Basqueian
371:Xtra Heat
341:(4 times)
567:ESPN.com
462:Family
406:Racing
396:jockey
359:(2011)
351:Honors
346:(1990)
323:(2003)
318:(2001)
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126:(1989)
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116:(1988)
106:(1988)
101:(1988)
96:(1986)
91:(1982)
86:(1979)
81:(1978)
32:Jockey
416:filly
62:4,939
37:Born
429:at
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