A moment of silence will be held before Friday's horse races at the Alameda County Fair to remember Jorge Herrera.
The 33-year-old jockey died Thursday July 5, 2012, at a race after he was thrown off a horse that clipped heels with another competing horse. Officials say Herrera suffered major head trauma when he either struck the ground or was hit by another horse, and was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he was later pronounced dead.
Horse racing fatality
Herrera was the first jockey to die at Pleasanton since leading Northern California rider Juan Gonzalez was killed in 1975.
The moment of silence is tentatively scheduled at 12:45 p.m., after the National Anthem. The fairgrounds' race-track chaplain will also say a few words before the races kick off at 1:15 p.m., officials said.
Dennis Miller, the county fair's racing publicist, on Friday morning said the tight-knit, horse-racing community is on "very high edge" following Thursday's tragedy.
According to the Equibase race chart, Morito, the horse Herrera was riding in the $5,000 maiden claiming race at five furlongs, came out slightly while racing between horses leaving the half-mile pole. The 4-year-old gelding clipped heels with another horse, Tribal Sun, and stumbled badly, throwing Herrera.
Herrera, from Jalisco, Mexico, was an exercise rider and journeyman jockey who had raced in California, Oregon, and Washington winning 55 races during his career.
Herrera was the first jockey to die at Pleasanton since leading Northern California rider Juan Gonzalez was killed in 1975.