Frey has surgery on infected leg

DEL MAR, Calif. – Kyle Frey, the champion apprentice jockey of 2011, will be sidelined until the fall after undergoing surgery last Tuesday to remove a rod and screws that had caused infection to a leg, according to his agent, Mark North.

Frey, who last rode at Del Mar on July 23, complained of pain, and an MRI revealed the infection.

“When they did the MRI, where the screws were, there was infection all around there,” North said on Friday. “They removed the rod and cleaned up an abscess.”

Frey underwent leg surgery in 2012 following a spill in Pennsylvania.

Frey remained hospitalized on Friday and could be released on Sunday. Doctors told Frey he would need three months to recover, but the rider said he hoped to be back sooner.

“He told the doctor, ‘Come and bet on me in two,’ ” North said. “I think the soonest we’re back is during Santa Anita.”

Santa Anita’s fall meeting runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 29.

Frey, 25, has won 50 races this year, including the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows on Shane’s Girlfriend on July 6. He won a career-best 153 races in 2011.