Bejarano, Stevens expected back this weekend at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – The jockey colony at Santa Anita will get a lot deeper this week. Rafael Bejarano is expected to return Friday; Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens is tentatively scheduled to return next Sunday.

Bejarano, who has won the last four riding titles at the Santa Anita winter-spring meet, has not ridden since he bruised a bone in a Feb. 11 spill on the turf course.

Stevens has not ridden since Dec. 10; he underwent hip-replacement surgery in late December and recently began working horses regularly at Santa Anita.

Bejarano originally was expected to return Thursday, but the races in which he had calls did not fill, according to his agent, Tora Yamaguchi. Bejarano will have missed nearly three weeks when he returns Friday.

“He was a little banged up [from the spill], but he didn’t want to come back until he was 100 percent,” Yamaguchi said.

Despite the missed time, Bejarano ranks fourth in the standings through Saturday with 18 wins from 99 mounts. He has upcoming calls on Midnight Storm in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and Ring Weekend in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile. Both races are March 11.

Stevens had a banner 2016. He won 40 races; his mounts, including Beholder and Kobe’s Back, earned more than $5.9 million.

Flavien Prat is the leading rider at Santa Anita. He entered Sunday having won 38 races from 162 mounts.