After five months away, Gary Stevens returning to Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens is in the midst of a road trip this weekend.

Stevens, 55, has spent the last several months riding primarily in Arkansas and Kentucky, and is returning to his longtime base in California. He and his family planned to spend this weekend driving from Louisville, Ky., to Southern California before Stevens resumes riding at Santa Anita on May 17.

Stevens has not ridden at Santa Anita since Dec. 31.

“I’ve been gone for five months,” Stevens said Thursday morning. “I miss my dogs, I miss friends, and I miss the horse racing. It’s time to come back.”

Through Wednesday, Stevens has won 30 races from 184 mounts this year, with his mounts earning $2.6 million. Stevens spent the early months of the year riding the Oaklawn Park meeting in Arkansas and had two stakes wins there, including the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes on Sassy Sierra, whom he rode to a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4.

Stevens has ridden mostly in Kentucky in recent weeks.

“I made a lot of new contacts,” he said.

Stevens left California last winter after a quiet 2017 season in which he won 43 races, 10 of which were stakes. His mounts earned $3,147,325 in 2017, a drop from the 2016 season when his mounts earned $5,872,418. Stevens had 15 stakes wins in 2016.

One key difference was the absence of a nationally prominent mount such as Beholder, the champion older female of 2016. Stevens rode Beholder to three stakes wins in 2016, including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.

“It was a disappointing year for me,” he said of 2017. “With Beholder being retired, it had a trickle-down effect. Things got stagnant. I thought it was a good time for a change.”

Stevens will be represented by agent Tony Matos.