Jockey James Thornton of Edgewood remained unconscious in a Fairfax, Va., hospital last night after suffering a massive head injury in a spill at the Charles Town, W.Va., racetrack Friday night.
Thornton's former wife Rosalyn, whom he is engaged to remarry, said she and other family members told doctors not to continue with additional surgery last night after an immediate operation .. Friday.
A hospital administrator said Thornton was in extremely critical condition.
"The first operation relieved some of the pressure on his brain," Mrs. Thornton said. "But then, when he was taken in for a CT scan yesterday afternoon, the pressure had started to rebuild. The surgeon told me he could perform another operation, but that Jimmy would be paralyzed on his right side and couldn't speak even if the surgery was a success. We [she and their five grown daughters] decided, and I know he would agree, that he wouldn't want to live that way. There is nothing more they can do."
Thornton, 54, was injured in the first race at Charles Town on Friday night, when his mount, Shifty Four, clipped heels with another horse after coming out of the gate in a 4 1/2 -furlong race.
Thornton was bumped off the horse and fell face down on the track, according to witnesses. Another horse, Sales Brook, with jockey Glenn Reeder aboard, then ran over Thornton, falling in the process.
Paul Espinosa, media relations director at Charles Town, said Thornton was unconscious when an emergency rescue crew arrived at the scene. He was transported immediately to Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Charles Town and then flown by helicopter to Fairfax Hospital.
On Friday afternoon, Thornton had ridden at Laurel, finishing last on a 130-1 long shot.
Yesterday, Thornton's colleagues praised the jockey, who exercised horses each morning at Pimlico or the Bowie Training Center before occasionally competing at a Maryland track or at Charles Town.
"No one rides any horse better than Jimmy, especially in the morning," said trainer Sidney Watters Jr. "He can get along with any horse. He is just a natural-born horseman."
Frannie Campitelli, another trainer, agreed: "At his age, I'd see him out there handling all kind of rogues and riding sore horses and getting along with all of them. You have to give him a lot of credit."
Jimmy Edwards, local manager for the Jockeys' Guild, said Thornton "makes his living the hard way -- galloping horses in Maryland and then shipping all over the place to run. He makes the most of his opportunities. I remember a race he rode early in the card on Preakness Day in 1993. He battled Pat Day all the way down the stretch and beat him in a photo finish."
ZTC Thornton had ridden 56 mounts at the Maryland tracks in 1994, winning three races. At Charles Town, he is 20th in the standings, with 35 winners in 318 mounts this year.
According to Watters, Thornton, who was born in Baltimore, started his career as a steeplechase jockey, getting his early schooling from Hall of Fame trainer Mike Smithwick.