Alvarado was taken to Saratoga Hospital by ambulance after the spill in the stretch run on the main track. He was examined, released and returned to the jockey's quarters at the track. Alvarado will be able to resume riding on Wednesday following Tuesday's dark day.

"All of a sudden he took a bad step in front and threw me over him," Alvarado said. "The next thing I knew I was rolling, rolling, rolling. I stayed there for a little bit because I was out of air. That was the only thing."

Alvarado said he never lost consciousness and felt a sharp pain near his right hip when he was being put into the ambulance.

"It was just for a couple of seconds and then it went away," he said.

Alvarado said, "I would be lying" if he tried to describe the fall and what part of his body hit the ground first.

"I definitely feel lucky," he said. "When you get on a horse and you come back you're lucky."

Pete's Parlay was vying for the lead when the injury occurred. He was able to leave the track on the horse ambulance . NYRA said the 5-year-old New York-bred son of Freud suffered fractures of the sesamoids in his left front leg and was euthanized. He is the third racing-related fatality of the Saratoga season.