Back from vacation, Smith enters earnings season

DEL MAR, Calif. – Summer vacation ended for jockey Mike Smith with the start of the Del Mar meeting on Wednesday.

The Hall of Famer won Wednesday on Shivermetimbers, his first mount in more than two weeks. He did not have another mount scheduled until Friday.

“I’ve been gone so long that I didn’t have much business,” Smith said in the stables on Thursday.

Smith, who turns 53 on Aug. 10, won the Belmont Stakes on Justify on June 9 to secure the 13th Triple Crown in history. For the rest of June, Smith rode mostly on weekends. He rode Midnight Bisou to a win in the Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park on June 30 and did not ride again until Wednesday.

On Sunday, Smith will be at Saratoga to ride Midnight Bisou in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks before returning to Del Mar for Wednesday’s program. Smith said he welcomed the vacation, which included a day in his honor at Ruidoso Downs. At the same time, Smith said he is happy to return to his racing routine.

“It’s been nice, but I’m ready to get back to work,” he said. “The Breeders’ Cup is closer than you think.”

The Breeders’ Cup races are Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs. There will be a prep race for the series nearly every weekend through early October. Smith is booked to ride American Anthem in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs next Saturday at Del Mar, a race expected to draw Roy H, the champion sprinter of 2017. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Sprint on Nov. 3.

Next Sunday at Del Mar, Smith rides Unique Bella in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares. Unique Bella was the champion female sprinter of 2017. The winner of that race will hold a berth in the BC Distaff on Nov. 3.