Toe fracture puts Valdivia on ice

DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. was forced to miss his scheduled mount Wednesday on Believe in Hope, the third choice on the morning line in the Grade 1, $250,000 Del Mar Futurity, after suffering a minor fracture in a toe, according to his agent, Jim Pegram.

"The doctor told him he could do more damage if he rode on it today," Pegram said Wednesday morning. "It should heal in two to three weeks. So, we'll shoot for the first part of Oak Tree."

The Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita begins on Sept. 24.

Valdivia was injured in a starting-gate mishap on Monday. He took off his final two mounts that day, too.

Dazzling debut for Details R Sketchy

Burt Bacharach and his wife, Jane, may have another hit on their hands with the 2-year-old gelding Details R Sketchy, who looked sensational in his debut on Sunday, winning easily in a quick 1:03.62 for 5 1/2 furlongs.

Details R Sketchy, bred by the Bacharachs under their Blue Seas Music banner, never felt the whip of jockey Garrett Gomez while winning by 2 3/4 lengths.

"He had trained extremely well in the mornings," said Carla Gaines, who trains Details R Sketchy. "He'd shown he had great gate speed, but also gears. You never know until the p.m., but he came through."

Maiden winners may meet in Oak Leaf

Alpha Kitten and Via Veneto, 2-year-old fillies who scored debut wins in divisions of a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race on Saturday, may both return in the Grade 1, $250,000 Oak Leaf Stakes on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting, their trainers said.

Alpha Kitten was the more impressive, and faster, of the two, completing the distance in 1:03.87 while winning by 1 3/4 lengths under jockey Tyler Baze despite an awkward start. She is by Unbridled's Song, and was bred and is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss.

"I thought her race was very impressive," said John Sadler, who trains Alpha Kitten. "We'll look at the Oak Leaf. I think she's one of the good ones."

Via Veneto won by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:04.42, racing on or near the lead throughout. A daughter of Orientate, she, too, is a homebred. Don Dizney bred and owns her.

Bob Baffert, who trains Via Veneto, said he did not want to commit to the Oak Leaf until he sees the new Pro-Ride surface that was recently installed at Santa Anita.

"Let's see how they train on the mystery wax," he said.

Garcia suspended three days

Jockey Martin Garcia was suspended for three days by the Del Mar stewards because of the disqualification of Black Magic Mama in the second race on Saturday.

Because Fairplex Park, which opens Friday, is not considered a meet equal to that of Del Mar, Garcia was assigned to miss the first three days of the Oak Tree meeting, Sept. 24-26.

Track fined for program error

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which runs the meet here, was fined $1,000 by Del Mar's stewards for failure properly to note Palamoun as a first-time gelding in the eighth race on Aug. 9.

Palamoun is trained by Ben Cecil. According to Randy Winick, one of Del Mar's stewards, Cecil turned in the proper paperwork, and the horse was listed as a gelding next to his name in the program, but the required footnote at the bottom of the program page listing him as a first-time gelding was absent.

* Street Boss, the winner of the Bing Crosby Handicap earlier in the meet, worked six furlongs in 1:10.60 on Wednesday for trainer Bruce Headley. He is scheduled to make his next start in the Grade 1, $250,000 Ancient Title Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27.

* Owner Joan Hemming on Monday was suspended indefinitely by Del Mar's stewards for failure to pay a bill totaling $30,175 to trainer Ray Bell.