Jockey Puglisi seeks late-May comeback

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Iggy Puglisi has not ridden since mid-March after suffering a severely sprained ankle, and is hoping to resume physical therapy this week for a comeback in late May.

Puglisi said Sunday that he hoped to receive doctor’s clearance this week to begin exercising the ankle, which was injured in a starting gate incident at Santa Anita on March 18.

“It was bruised and swollen,” Puglisi said “Nothing was broken.”

Puglisi said he was advised by doctors to rest for a month. He said the ankle was flexible in some positions compared to others.

“To move it sideways is different than pushing down on a gas pedal,” he said. “I want to come back when I’m comfortable.”

Puglisi, 44, has won 823 races since his career began in 1990, most of them in Southern California.

Apprentice suspensions

Apprentice jockeys Franklin Ceballos and Edgar Payeras have been suspended for riding infractions at Santa Anita last Friday.

Ceballos, 19, was cited for causing interference aboard R Cha Cha, who finished second in a $40,000 claimer on the hillside turf course April 19. R Cha Cha bumped with third-place finisher General Mach Four near the wire. There was no change to the order of finish.

Ceballos will be suspended for four racing days – Saturday and Sunday, and May 3-4.

Payeras, 23, has been suspended three days – Saturday and Sunday, and May 3 – for causing interference aboard Man O Work, who finished eighth in a $30,000 claimer for maidens. Man O Work set the pace and faded in the stretch, but not before he was ruled to have altered course without clearance.