From Coma to the 2025 Preakness Stakes: Jockey Raul Mena’s Remarkable Comeback


From Five Weeks in a Coma to the Preakness Gate: Jockey Raul Mena’s Extraordinary Return


By Sherry Phipps

Fourteen years after a catastrophic racing accident in Chile left him with 24 broken bones and in a five‑week coma, jockey Raul Mena is set to ride in his first Triple Crown race at the 150th Preakness Stakes. At 33, aboard long‑shot colt Pay Billy, Mena’s return to the spotlight at Pimlico Race Course is not only a racing story but a powerful example of survival after severe brain trauma and prolonged unconsciousness.

A Life‑Threatening Fall and Weeks in a Coma

Mena’s life changed in 2011 at Valparaíso Sporting Club in Viña del Mar, Chile, when the horse he was riding jumped the rail and threw him violently to the ground. The impact shattered his body: six fractured vertebrae, six broken ribs, both shoulders, his collarbone, and numerous other bones among the 24 reported injuries. He spent five weeks in a coma, and doctors told him and his family that he would likely never ride again—and might struggle even to walk.

Emerging from a prolonged coma usually marks the start of a long and uncertain journey. Neurology research shows that patients who survive disorders of consciousness often face years of rehabilitation, with outcomes depending on the extent of brain injury, the speed of medical care, and access to ongoing therapy. In Mena’s case, the physical pain was intense, but his determination was stronger. He described being “young” and choosing to keep going despite persistent discomfort, driven by the same passion for racing that began when he worked as a groom at age 14.

Rebuilding a Career in the United States

Seeking a fresh start, Mena moved to the United States in late 2014, joining one of the world’s most competitive racing circuits. Under the mentorship of fellow Chilean and Hall of Fame jockey José Santos, he began riding at tracks such as Tampa Bay Downs, Laurel Park, and Delaware Park. His first U.S. victory came in 2015, and by 2019 he had set a personal best for wins in a single season.

Purse earnings reflected his steady progress. Publicly available statistics show that he earned roughly 1.78 million dollars in 2021 and about 1.83 million in 2024 in purses, signaling his emergence as a reliable, in‑demand rider on the Mid‑Atlantic circuit. Yet the path was not linear. A later broken femur led him to seriously consider retirement, and he set a five‑year deadline with his wife, Jaqui: if he had not broken through by then, he would walk away from riding.

For many former coma patients, even basic physical independence can be a victory; returning to a profession that requires split‑second decisions, balance, strength, and intense risk is rare. Studies on long‑term outcomes after severe brain injury and prolonged unconsciousness emphasize how difficult it is to regain high‑level function, particularly in demanding occupations. Mena’s choice to stay in the game, rather than step away, illustrates a level of recovery and psychological resilience that stands out even in a sport accustomed to comebacks.

Pay Billy and the Road to the 150th Preakness Stakes

Mena’s persistence paid off in 2025, when he became the regular rider for Pay Billy, a three‑year‑old colt trained by Michael Gorham and based at Laurel Park in Maryland. In March and April, Pay Billy began to emerge as a local force, winning the Miracle Wood Stakes and then the Federico Tesio Stakes, a traditional Preakness prep race at Laurel. Gorham publicly praised Mena as a disciplined, hard‑working rider who keeps himself in top physical condition—traits that are especially notable given his injury history.

The Federico Tesio victory marked Mena’s second North American stakes win and effectively punched Pay Billy’s ticket to the Preakness. The 1 3/16‑mile race at Pimlico is the second leg of the Triple Crown, with a two‑million‑dollar purse and a field of nine elite three‑year‑olds expected in 2025, including Journalism, the Kentucky Derby runner‑up, and Clever Again from Steve Asmussen’s barn. Pay Billy entered as a long shot, but with a jockey who knew the colt intimately and had already helped him navigate muddy tracks and crowded fields.

A Historic Farewell at Pimlico—and a Personal Milestone

The 150th Preakness Stakes carries its own historical weight: it is set to be the final Preakness run over the current Pimlico Race Course configuration before demolition and redevelopment reshape the track. For Mena, whose home base at Laurel Park lies just about 30 miles away, the race is both a professional breakthrough and a symbolic marker in a long journey from a Chilean hospital bed to one of American racing’s biggest stages.

“This is my first time in a Triple Crown race, my first time in a Grade 1 race,” he said in an Associated Press interview ahead of the Preakness, acknowledging the magnitude of the moment. On race day, he is expected to break from the gate alongside some of the United States’ most accomplished jockeys, including Irad Ortiz Jr., José Ortiz, and John Velázquez—riders whose careers did not have to restart from a five‑week coma and a full‑body reconstruction.

Weather forecasts and track reports have suggested the possibility of wet conditions, which could play to Pay Billy’s strengths given his prior success at Laurel on less‑than‑perfect surfaces. In a sport where upsets are woven into the mythology of the Triple Crown, a local horse and a comeback jockey finding a way through the mud is the kind of story that resonates far beyond betting slips.

What Mena’s Story Says About Coma, Recovery, and Risk

From a neurological perspective, Mena’s story underscores how little we still know about predicting individual outcomes after severe brain injury and prolonged coma. Reviews of disorders of consciousness emphasize that recovery can be highly variable, with some patients defying early prognoses—especially younger individuals who receive aggressive care and years of rehabilitation. At the same time, the majority of patients with injuries as extensive as Mena’s never return to high‑risk professional athletics, let alone to the level of competing in a Triple Crown race.

His career also raises complex questions about risk after brain trauma. While there is no public evidence that Mena has ongoing neurological deficits that would bar him from riding, neurology and sports‑medicine experts have voiced broader concerns about repeated head impacts in high‑speed sports for people with prior severe injuries. For athletes like Mena, the calculation is deeply personal: the same passion that fuels rehabilitation can also send them back into environments where another fall could be devastating.

For families who have watched loved ones lie unresponsive in intensive care, stories like Mena’s can be both inspiring and sobering. They highlight the outer edge of what is possible—how someone can move from a five‑week coma to elite competition—while also reminding us that such outcomes are rare and shaped by a mix of medical care, opportunity, grit, and risk tolerance.

More Than a Long Shot

No matter where Pay Billy finishes in the 150th Preakness Stakes, Raul Mena’s presence in the starting gate is already a victory measured in something more than lengths or purse money. It represents years of incremental gains after catastrophic injury, a refusal to accept early predictions of permanent disability, and a willingness to rebuild a life and a career an ocean away from where it nearly ended.

“You never know when you can be part of a race of the Triple Crown,” he said, reflecting on his decision to keep riding through pain and doubt. For Mena, that moment has arrived—not as a miracle that erases the past, but as the latest chapter in a comeback that began the day he woke up from a coma and chose to try to stand again.

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