Horse collision results in injury, lawsuit

A horse exercise rider is suing over claims another horse was negligently ridden and caused a collision.

Edilberto Garcia filed a lawsuit Nov. 8 in the Circuit Court of Cook County against Duane Salvino, Jon Cowan and Hawthorne Race Course Inc., citing negligence.

The suit states that on Nov. 10, 2011, Garcia was employed as an exercise rider and was exercising a horse on the track at Hawthorne Race Course.

Defendant Salvino, according to the complaint, was also employed as an exercise rider by Cowan and was exercising a horse on the track, when contrary to common practice, he exercised his horse in the wrong direction while intoxicated and collided with the horse ridden by the Garcia, causing him to sustain serious injury.

The complaint alleges that Hawthorne Race Course was negligent for failing to properly manage, control and supervise its racetrack and for allowing a horse to be exercised against the flow of traffic and in the wrong direction.

The plaintiff is seeking more than $50,000 in damages. He is being represented by Gary B. Freidman of Friedman & Solmor Ltd.

Circuit Court of Cook County Case No. 2013L012369.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.