Kimura targeting mid-March for return

Jockey Kazushi Kimura hopes to resume riding in mid-March, two months after sustaining a lower leg injury in a starting gate incident at Santa Anita, according to his agent, Brian Beach.

Kimura underwent a minor surgical procedure to stabilize the injury in late January and has since started physical therapy, Beach said on Friday. Beach said Kimura is scheduled to see a doctor next week for evaluation.

“We’re still shooting for the second or third week of March,” Beach said.

Kimura, 25, has won five races at Santa Anita since the beginning of the current winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.

Kimura has earned three Sovereign Awards as Canada’s outstanding rider – in 2018 as an apprentice, and in 2021 and 2022 in the overall category. He was recognized with the Eclipse Award as the 2019 outstanding apprentice jockey throughout North America.

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