Baze still awaiting clearance to ride

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Tyler Baze has not had the most enjoyable summer at Del Mar.

After taking off one week to attend to what stewards deemed “personal matters” with his family, he wound up having to miss the entire past week as well when residual traces of a medication he took when his blood pressure spiked Aug. 15 remained in his system through Sunday.

As a result, Baze has missed two straight weeks of action. In addition, Baze has not been cleared to work horses, and he’s one of the most prolific riders on the circuit every morning in terms of getting on runners.

“Very frustrating,” his agent, Jack Carava, said Sunday.

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Baze and Carava were led to believe the medication would clear Baze’s system no later than Aug. 18. Baze showed up at Del Mar that day, as well as every other day of the race week, fully expecting to ride, but each day the pre-race test he must take showed traces of the medication, and thus the stewards did not clear him to ride.

Carava said Baze was considering going to Los Alamitos on Tuesday to get tested in hopes of at least working horses Wednesday and Thursday mornings. The next Del Mar race day is Thursday. Baze is named on five horses that day.