Horse racing notes: Jockey Tyler Baze sidelined by hand injury

Jockey Tyler Baze scored his first graded stakes win since 2022 when he rode Sugar Fish to victory in the Grade II Summertime Oaks on June 8 at Santa Anita, but he is out for the rest of Los Alamitos’ thoroughbred meet because of a broken bone in his left hand. Baze is expected back in time for opening day at Del Mar next month. (Photo by Benoit Photo)

LOS ALAMITOS LEADERS

Thoroughbred meet

Jockeys / Wins

Edwin Maldonado / 3

Kyle Frey / 3

Antonio Fresu / 2

Jeremy Laprida / 2

Armando Ayuso / 2

Edgar Payeras / 2

Trainers / Wins

Sergio Morfin / 3

Jorge Periban / 3

Bob Baffert / 2

(Ten tied) / 1

WEEKEND STAKES (LOS ALAMITOS)

Saturday

• $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby, 3-year-olds, 1⅛ miles

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Jockey Tyler Baze will miss the rest of Los Alamitos’ daytime thoroughbred meet after breaking a bone in his left hand last Saturday. Agent Brandon O’Bryan said Baze doesn’t need surgery and will be back for opening day at Del Mar on July 20. He was hurt when the maiden 2-year-old filly Swift Harmony acted up in the post parade before the third race of the Los Al meet; he rode that race anyway, finishing fourth, before missing the rest of his scheduled mounts. Baze, 41, scored his first graded stakes win since 2022 when he rode Sugar Fish to victory in the Grade II Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita on June 8.

• First Mission (Florent Geroux riding) and Skippylongstocking (Jose Ortiz), each seeking a third straight win and first at the Grade I level, are the top choices on the morning line for the $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes for 4-year-olds and up Saturday at Churchill Downs. California-based horses in stakes at Churchill include Exaulted (Juan Hernandez riding for trainer Peter Eurton) is in Saturday’s Grade II Wise Dan Stakes on turf, So There She Was (Antonio Fresu, Doug O’Neill) in Sunday’s Debutante for 2-year-old fillies, and Bodacious (Joel Rosario, Jorge Periban) and Ivan the Great (Fresu, O’Neill) in Sunday’s Bashford Manor for 2-year-olds.

• Jay Privman, one of America’s best horse racing writers, can enjoy greater glory Saturday at Los Alamitos when a colt named Privman seeks his maiden victory. Privman, a 2-year-old by Justify out of Mo Knows, makes his racing debut for trainer Bob Baffert in the first race. Privman, the man the horse is named for, retired from the Daily Racing Form in 2022 after a Racing Hall of Fame career that began at the Los Angeles Daily News.

• The U.S. Supreme Court upheld national horse racing medication and anti-doping rules, rejecting claims that Congress gave too much power to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Charles Scheeler, chairman of HISA’s board of directors, cited a 38% decline in equine fatalities for the first three months of this year in applauding the court’s decision Monday. The Humane Society of the United States called the ruling “a win for animals.” Two other cases are pending in federal court.

• At the California Horse Racing Board’s monthly meeting June 20, executive director Scott Chaney noted that racehorse deaths attributed to musculoskeletal injuries in races and training at the state’s tracks and training facilities numbered 22 from Jan. 1 to June 19, 2024, six more than in the same period in 2023. “While, compared to 2019, the five-year picture remains very good, the more recent numbers are slightly concerning,” Chaney told board members, saying “all stakeholders must redouble their efforts to protect equine athletes and that our work as a board is never done.”

• In a compromise that pleased almost nobody, the board imposed a formula to fund the CHRB’s $18.2 million budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year after tracks and commissioners failed to agree on a plan. It raises fees for Los Alamitos and other county-fair and nighttime tracks, and lowers fees for Santa Anita and Del Mar while still charging those big tracks the largest share of regulatory costs. The conflict was brought on partly by the loss of contributions from Golden Gate Fields, which closed permanently June 16.

— Kevin Modesti