Cabrera expected to resume riding in July

Jockey David Cabrera is scheduled to return to race riding towards the end of July at Prairie Meadows, his agent, Jose Santos Jr., said Tuesday.

Cabrera has been sidelined since April 8, when he sustained injuries to his back and face when thrown from a mount in a race at Oaklawn.

Cabrera went home to Oklahoma to recuperate and is scheduled to ride the upcoming meet at his home track of Remington Park, where he is a multiple title winner. The season starts in August.

“Our plan is that we want to be riding at the start of Remington, but he’s probably going to ride a couple of races in Iowa before then,” Santos said. “I’d say by the end of July, at the latest.”

Santos said Cabrera has been working out in preparation for his return and will start getting on horses when Remington opens its stable area in July.

Cabrera had been expected to return to action at the Lone Star Park meet that ends July 24, but his comeback was delayed when doctors in Oklahoma found a new fracture to one of his vertebrae. It required additional time to heal.

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“The other fracture is what was taking longer,” said Santos.

Cabrera won the Oaklawn title this past meet despite not riding over the final month of the season. He’s long been a top rider in the region, and overall has won 1,592 races from 9,071 starts, for mount earnings of $38 million, according to records from Daily Racing Form. Cabrera won the richest race of his career in March, when he guided Rated R Superstar to victory in the Grade 3, $500,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn.