Hollywood Park: Stevens takes day off after spill

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens took off his mounts at Betfair Hollywood Park on Sunday, a day after being unseated in a turf race.

Stevens, who is booked to ride Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes in New York, was scheduled to have two mounts Sunday.

He worked one horse Sunday morning but said he was “pretty sore” and chose not to ride. Later in the morning, Stevens, 50, said he went to a hospital near Santa Anita for precautionary X-rays on his ribs.

“I was a little uncomfortable with the ribs on my left side,” he said. “I went to the hospital, and I got the all-clear. I’m relieved about that. It’s best to know what you’re dealing with. I didn’t want to have a cracked rib or something.”

In Saturday’s seventh race, run over a mile on turf, Stevens was unseated when Two Blue Hens, the 9-5 favorite, ducked out on the first turn. Stevens was at the back of the field when he was unseated.

Stevens scrambled under the inside rail and then walked into an ambulance on his own power. After undergoing a brief examination in the track’s first-aid department, Stevens went back to the jockeys’ room. He had no mounts later on the program.