Maldonado to return Friday with six mounts
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Edwin Maldonado, sidelined since Jan. 6 after sustaining a shoulder injury in a morning workout, is booked to return to riding on Friday with six mounts on an eight-race program at Santa Anita.
Maldonado, 31, will be hoping to return to the form he showed in the first weeks of the current winter-spring meeting.
Despite not riding in nearly four weeks, Maldonado is tied for seventh place in the jockey standings with six wins from 15 mounts. Through Sunday, Flavien Prat and Juan Hernandez are tied for the lead with 18 wins.
At the time he was sidelined, Maldonado ranked third behind Hernandez, who at the time had nine wins.
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At the beginning of the meet, Maldonado had two-win days on Dec. 26 and 29. He rode Ruby Nell to a win in the Lady of Shamrock Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Dec. 31. The recent injury will prevent Maldonado from riding Ruby Nell in Saturday’s Grade 3 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park. Frankie Dettori has the mount.
Training track to remain closed
The infield training track at Santa Anita is not expected to reopen until mid-February following recent construction delays, officials said over the weekend.
The training track was closed in early November to replace a dirt surface with a Tapeta Footings synthetic surface. Officials had hoped to have the track ready for use this month.
“It’s looking more like mid-February,” general manager Nate Newby said. “That’s a moving target.
“They’re trying to do as much as they can between racing and training. The dark days are when they get the most done. They’re making progress.”
Newby said that the construction timeline has faced “some curveballs” that have delayed the reopening.
When in use, the course is used for a variety of facets of daily training, including workouts, jogging, galloping, and ponying.
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