GORDON WILLIAMS, Contributor

Jermaine Bridgmohan - contributed by jim lisa at calder race course

The bright early career of Jamaican-born apprentice Jermaine Bridgmohan suffered a huge setback last week when the jockey was injured after being thrown from his mount during a race at Gulfstream Park in Hallendale Beach, Florida.

The 18-year-old Bridgmohan is now recovering at home in Plantation, Florida, after sustaining a broken collarbone, according to Jamaican-born trainer Kirk Ziadie. The rider could be out of action for a while.

"He's out for about four months," lamented Ziadie, a close Bridgmohan family friend. "He was going so good."

Bridgmohan sensationally captured Miami's 60-day "Tropical at Calder" meet with a record 110 winners after less than six months in the saddle. He wrapped up the "Tropical" title on January 2, the day before the incident on Gulfstream Park's opening day.

Rushed to the hospital

Bridgmohan was aboard TOMS MULLIGAN in the fifth race when his horse appeared to clip the heels of another thoroughbred racing in front, unseating him. Other horses appeared to step on the young rider. He was taken from the track on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.

Ironically, a little over a week ago, Bridgmohan listed keeping healthy among his main goals for 2007.

"I just want to do well and stay well," he said then.

Ziadie, who also emerged the leading trainer at "Tropical", is hoping the rider, who migrated as a three-year-old from Jamaica with his family, will bounce back soon. He rates Bridgmohan, younger brother of established jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, among the best he has seen when it comes to knowledge of horses.

A horseman

"(Jermaine) is a horseman, he knows the game," the trainer said. "He knows how to read the race form. He knows every horse on the racetrack. He knows their habits."

Bridgmohan rode numerous winners for Ziadie during the "Tropical" meet. He credited the trainer with giving him opportunities others would not, and called Ziadie his "backbone" in racing. Ziadie is hoping the apprentice will resume his promising career soon as he had already displayed qualities that could take him to the top of his profession quickly.

"(Jermaine) Bridgmohan is the first rider I've seen that really knows what's going on," Ziadie said. "... He knows everything that's going to happen in a race. That's a big advantage for a trainer. He's going to be one of the best riders ever."

Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.