Stevens accepts Breeders' Cup mount on Sivoliere

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens will make his comeback from a summertime knee operation in time for the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita next weekend.

Stevens has been booked to ride Sivoliere in the $1 million BC Juvenile Fillies Turf over a mile on Oct. 31 for owner Martin Schwartz and trainer Chad Brown.

Stevens, 51, has not ridden since July 6 at Monmouth Park. He underwent knee replacement surgery that month. There was concern that the injury could lead to the end of his career, but Stevens resumed working horses earlier this month at Santa Anita.

“I’m excited about it,” Stevens said Thursday. “I’ll let my body do my speaking. I can say what I want, but people need to see me do it for real.”

Stevens said he hopes to have a few quality mounts as early as next Thursday to prepare for the ride on Sivoliere and other stakes on Friday’s undercard.

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“I’m hoping to ride something on Thursday,” Stevens said. “I won’t ride just to ride.”

Stevens has won 4,988 races in North America and more than 5,000 in his career. He returned to riding after an absence of seven years in January 2013, and had an excellent year, winning races such as the Preakness Stakes, BC Classic and BC Distaff.

Sivoliere, an Irish-bred by Sea the Stars, was a minor stakes winner at La Teste, France, on Aug. 6, and was third in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados at Deauville, France, on Aug. 23, her most recent start. The filly arrived at Brown’s barn in New York a month ago, and will make her American debut in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“We’d love to have him on the horse,” Brown said of Stevens. “He goes way back with Mr. Schwartz.”