Jockey Miguel Mena Dies

[Wandering Eyes]

Jockey Miguel Mena was killed Sunday night in Louisville when struck by a car. He was 34. According to the Jefferson County Coroners Office, which released a brief statement Monday, Mena was a pedestrian on Interstate 64 West between Blankenbaker Parkway and Hurstbourne when hit. It was not immediately known why Mena was walking on the highway.

The cause of death is listed as blunt force injuries and the manner of death was listed as accidental.

Mena, 34, began riding in this country in 2003, posting his first victory at Calder that September. According to his biography on the Keeneland website, Mena's father Jose was also a jockey, while his uncle was a trainer.

“I used to go to the race track all the time,” he said. “I was watching my dad ride and I wanted to do what he was doing. I got the idea in my head when I was a kid that I'm going to be a jockey.”

According to the Keeneland bio, Mena was grooming horses by the age of 11 and at 14, he started at the Jorge Bernardini Yori Jockey School in his native Peru, whose graduates also included Edgar Prado and Rafael Bejarano.

According to Equibase statistics, Mena rode the winners of 2,079 races, earning his first graded success aboard Go Between in the 2007 GII Fayette S. at Keeneland. His first Grade I winner came aboard Champagne d'Oro for Eric Guillot in the 2010 GI Test S. at Saratoga and he also won the 2011 GI Stephen Foster H. atop longshot Pool Play for Mark Casse. Mena's most productive year in the saddle was in 2012, when his mounts earned better than $6.2 million. Mena had two rides on Keeneland's closing day program Oct. 30.

This story will be updated.

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