Injured Bejarano won't make it back for final week of meet

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano continues to recuperate from a soft-tissue injury to his right hand and will miss the final week of Del Mar’s season that closes Dec. 4, according to his agent, Tora Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi said Bejarano has a follow-up appointment with a specialist on Dec. 5.

If all goes well, Bejarano “should be getting back up on horses shortly after that,” Yamaguchi said.

“We’ll have to play Los Alamitos by ear so we can definitely be 100 percent for the Santa Anita meeting,” which begins Dec. 26, Yamaguchi said.

Bejarano has been off for the whole Del Mar fall meeting after injuring his right hand just after the end of the Santa Anita meeting that concluded Nov. 6. He was initially expected to be back by Thanksgiving weekend.

“His hand is getting better,” said Yamaguchi, who said Bejarano “still uses the soft brace to expedite the healing and protect it.”

Bejarano won the fall-meeting title last year and has won or tied for the jockeys’ title at six summer meets here, including the last five.