Krone back in saddle after injury

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Julie Krone, Hall of Fame jockey and the world's winningest female rider, returns after a four-month break from injury Wednesday at Hollywood Park.

Krone is booked on one mount, Speed to Speed, in the second race. The race is run over seven furlongs for fillies and mares entered to be claimed for $8,000.

Krone said she is eager to resume riding, pending doctor's approval on Tuesday.

"I can't wait," Krone said. "I've breezed about eight horses going six furlongs, so I'm fit. I can go into Del Mar with a couple of weeks of riding and be fresh at the same time."

Krone was injured when she was unseated at the start of a turf race at Santa Anita on March 8. She suffered two broken bones in her lower back and two compression fractures of vertebrae. The injuries did not require surgery.

Speed to Speed won a maiden race for claimers at Santa Anita in April in her eighth start. Owned and trained by Jim Cassidy, Speed to Speed was eighth in a starter allowance race over 7 1/2 furlongs on June 27.

Overall, Wednesday's eight-race program is plagued by short fields. The largest field is 11 entries in the sixth race, a maiden claimer over 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

The feature is a $51,000 allowance race for fillies and mares over 5 1/2 furlongs on turf. Grant Marty a Wish, a winner of 5 of 9 starts, will be heavily favored against four opponents.

Trained by Doug O'Neill, Grant Marty a Wish was second to Just Too Too in an optional claimer over 5 1/2 furlongs on June 13. The form of that race was flattered on Sunday when Just Too Too returned to win her stakes debut in the Flawlessly over a mile on turf, remaining unbeaten in five starts.

Grant Marty a Wish won an allowance race for turf sprinters at this meeting on May 11, leading throughout. She has remarkable speed and is unlikely to be challenged early, although Oriana's Magic has also shown speed.

The field includes Talk Me Again, a multiple stakes winner in Argentina who is making her U.S. debut. Now trained by Eric Kruljac, Talk Me Again, 5, won four sprint stakes in Argentina last year, including a Group 1 against males over about five furlongs on turf. In her last start in Argentina, last December, she was second by a nose against males over the same distance.