Daniel Quintero, 19-Year-Old Exercise Rider, Dies At Tampa Bay Downs

Exercise rider Daniel Quintero, 19, died as a result of an early morning training accident Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

According to a report in Daily Racing Form, Quintero was exercising a horse for trainer Robert Werneth, his feet out of the irons and unable to control the horse while going a high rate of speed the wrong way – clockwise – and in the direction of other horses. The horse Quintero was aboard reportedly collided with another horse.

The condition of the horses is not known at this time.

Quintero was a native of Venezuela whose family reportedly is living in the Miami area.

Tampa's WFLA news channel 8 an NBC affiliate, reported that a spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said first responders were called to the scene but when paramedics arrived, Quintero had succumbed.

Tampa Bay Downs officials said the track will observe a moment of silence at 12:20 p.m. Saturday in Quintero's honor.

It has been 13 years since Robert Shields, 60, died at Tampa Bay Downs while exercising a horse that reared up and fell on him.

Last year at Keeneland, 20-year-old Callie Witt suffered a fatal injury when she was thrown from a horse she was galloping on the training track.

Track officials said Tampa Bay Downs was accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's  Safety and Integrity Alliance in December 2021.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article, based on information from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association website, incorrectly stated that Tampa Bay Downs was not accredited by the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.