Rick Wilson won't be riding in the Preakness Saturday. Among the top riders at Pimlico, he'll be in the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma unit fighting for his life.

The Preakness is a day for celebrating the best this sport has to offer. It's about great racing, a big crowd, fun and the type of excitement that only the Triple Crown events can generate. But let no one forget that about three miles away a jockey, by all accounts a decent, hard-working man, will lay in a hospital bed, probably still in critical condition. Let no one forget that these are brave athletes who put their lives on the line every time they ride a horse. Let no one forget that they are nothing like some of the pampered, overpaid athletes that too often dominate the headlines and that their job is the most dangerous one there is in sports.

"I work around the track and with jockeys every day," said John Salzman Jr., Wilson's agent. "So I've seen plenty with broken arms and legs and that sort of thing. I know how dangerous it is. But when I walked into that hospital room and had to see this guy and face his family, that was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life."

Wilson, who has had five Preakness mounts, most recently in 2001, was riding last Saturday at Pimlico in one of those races that quickly come and go without any notice. It was a $25,000 claimer and was supposed to be just another ride in his long career, which includes 4,939 victories, 20th best all-time among all the jockeys. Though he won some big races on Xtra Heat and has ridden in seven Triple Crown races, more often that not, riding for Wilson was just a job, his way of putting groceries on the table.

But any race for any jockey can mean disaster, maybe even death. That's what they face every single day of their professional lives.

He was aboard a horse named Advance to Go, who stumbled coming out of the gate and kicked the 50-year-old rider in the head after unseating him. Wilson flipped over himself on the track and lay motionless on the ground.

"Rick Wilson and (veteran rider) Tony Black are the guys I looked up to and still look up to," said Stewart Elliott, Smarty Jones' rider. "It just goes to show you you never know what can happen at any time."

According to the Jockeys' Guild, on average, one jockey a year is killed in this country. That doesn't begin to include the ones who are seriously injured. There are about 50 Guild members on the permanently disabled list, many of them getting around today in wheel chairs. That list includes Ron Turcotte, the regular rider of the great Secretariat.

"I really don't think people understand what a dangerous job being a jockey is," said Darrell Haire, a national member representative for the Jockeys' Guild. "People have no idea what race riding entails. You're on the balls of your feet in the stirrups, going 35 miles per hour, trying to control a horse and harness his speed. There's a lot of strategy involved and you're never more than about an inch away from the back legs of another horse. There's so much involved."

Wilson has remained in the hospital since the accident and, as of, Wednesday, was still listed in critical condition. However, he is making progress and those close to him are encouraged by the latest developments.

"He's doing pretty well," Salzman said. "If he weren't so tough he'd be doing even better. Every time they take him off the sedatives he wants to get up. Yesterday, he did take a couple of steps. I spoke to him when they took the tubes out and he asked me what happened. He doesn't remember the accident at all. But I'll say he's doing as well as can be expected."

Ryan Fogelsonger, just 22, rode with Wilson every day at Pimlico. Saturday, he'll be aboard longshot Water Cannon in the Preakness.

"I have thought about Rick every day since the accident," he said.

During the Preakness, though, he knows he'll have to put those feelings aside.

"With all due respect to Rick, when I'm out on the racetrack, I don't think about anything but what is going on in the race," he said.

That's one way to make a very dangerous job a bit safer.