Louisiana-based trainer Sarah Delany is recovering in a Houston, Texas, hospital after being kicked in the neck by a horse Feb. 7 at Delta Downs Racetrack.
Delany, who trains alongside her husband Benny Martinez, was flown from a hospital in Lake Charles, La., to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston. She underwent spinal fusion surgery and is expected to face a lengthy recovery.
Friend and horse owner Brian Poppenberg said he spoke with Delany and that she has feeling and movement in all extremities.
Delany conveyed to her husband he didn’t need to rush to Houston as her family resides in the area. After tending to the horses, Martinez made his way to Texas Feb. 8.
In a text message from Delany’s phone, her family said the trainer “needs prayers”.
Poppenberg said he wasn’t sure how the accident happened, but noted that Delany and her husband are a “two-man show with maybe two or three grooms.”
A GoFundMe has been established to help with medical expenses. As of Thursday afternoon, more than $5,000 toward a goal of $100,000 has been raised. The GoFundMe can be found here.
The Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association will also provide aid through benefits that Delany has as a member but also via a contribution that is yet to be determined by the HBPA’s medical benefit board of trustees.
Louisiana HBPA executive director Ed Fenasci said that in addition to the medical trust, the organization will undertake fundraising efforts to help.
Poppenberg is part of a group of Delany’s friends who launched the GoFundMe and spread the word of her situation.
“To get visibility, to get other trainers to donate, to get the sales companies, to get people like (Mike) Repole or Spendthrift or whoever else out there will look at this as one of those things where if it was something that happened to a Brad Cox or Joe Sharp or Neil Pessin, or somebody like that, the industry would rally around because they’re well-known names,” said Poppenberg of the GoFundMe. “They’re big-time players and the small outfits don’t get that visibility and I am going to do everything in my power to make this as visible as possible.”
He added, “When Benny and Sarah have claimed horses in the past, let’s say they got from another trainer that after they claimed we’re not really racing fit, they would immediately retire (the horse) and then send them to Nicole (Snyder, who set up the GoFundMe). … That’s what I’ve always loved and respected about them.”
It is unknown at this time what will happen to the horses that Delany trains, but Poppenberg anticipates they will be moved to other trainers soon.
Delany has a career record of 280-277-224 from 1,941 starts and has earned more than $4,605,206. Her winningest trainee is Queeten , who earned $225,385 under her care.
