Bejarano out 3 to 4 weeks with broken wrist

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano sustained a broken left wrist after an accident in the final race Sunday at Santa Anita and will be out of action for at least three to four weeks, his agent, Tora Yamaguchi, reported Monday morning.

“Rafael most likely fell onto an outstretched arm and suffered a radius fracture,” Yamaguchi said. “The good thing is that it’s not displaced, but he will have to miss at least three to four weeks.”

Bejarano was thrown from Boom Boom Bango when that horse broke down heading down the backstretch. Bejarano was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital, where the fracture was confirmed.

Bejarano is currently tied with Drayden Van Dyke for fourth in the jockey standings at Santa Anita with 29 victories, two back of third-place Kent Desormeaux. Evin Roman leads with 43 wins.

Options aplenty for Fault

Fault has won graded stakes on both turf and dirt this meet, giving trainer Phil D’Amato plenty of options for her next start after knocking off her first Grade 1 in the Santa Margarita on dirt Saturday.

“Ever since I got her, she’s trained good on the dirt,” D’Amato said, “so we had been thinking of the Santa Margarita, even if Unique Bella was going to be in it, because it probably would have been a five-horse field, and we probably would have taken a shot in a small field. When Unique Bella came out, the field grew.”

D’Amato said Fault “wasn’t blowing at all after the race.”

“I thought with a performance like that she’d be winded,” he said. “She took a ton of dirt in her face. She ran through it, and drew off, but we had to wash a lot of dirt out of her eyes.”