Jockey Geovanni Franco has been sidelined with a shoulder injury sustained in a spill at Del Mar on July 26 and will not ride again until early September, according to his agent, Jack Carava.

Franco has “a small fracture” in his shoulder and is awaiting an MRI on a knee, Carava said.

The knee “x-rayed clean,” Carava said. “He still has some residual swelling. They still want to check it out.”

Carava said Franco will be out for five weeks, a time period that includes the remainder of the Del Mar summer season, which ends on Sept. 8.

Smiling Tiger, a fixture among leading stallions in California since 2018, was euthanized on Thursday because of complications of ataxia.

Through Thursday, Smiling Tiger led all stallions in California in progeny earnings, with more than $2.38 million. Smiling Tiger’s death was first reported by Bloodhorse.com. Ataxia is a muscle control disorder.

Smiling Tiger, who was 17, was fourth among the state’s stallion in progeny earnings in 2022 and rose to third last year. He ranked ninth in 2018 and was sixth for three consecutive years from 2019 through 2021.

The Oak Tree Racing Association, which operated the fall season at Santa Anita for decades, has made a cash infusion of $157,000 to the purses of seven races at Del Mar on Saturday, and plans a similar investment at Santa Anita on Oct. 5.

The funding comes from Oak Tree’s endowment, which also provides annual donations to racing-related charities, officials said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Trainer Kenny McPeek turned 62 years old on Friday. In Thorpedo Anna, he has the gift that keeps on giving.

Friday morning, Thorpedo Anna picked up the paces in her training toward a start against the boys in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes here on Aug. 24, working a half-mile shortly after 5:30 a.m. With a heavy mist obscuring view of the poles on the Oklahoma training track, Thorpedo Anna will not be credited with an official time. Daily Racing Form caught her galloping out a quarter-mile past the wire in 26.53 seconds.

Express Train, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2022, is scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 31 for the third time in his career after a third-place finish in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar last Saturday.

Express Train closed from last of five in the San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles to finish 4 3/4 lengths behind Dr. Venkman, another candidate for the $1 million Pacific Classic.

DEL MAR, Calif. – For a jockey who began the Del Mar summer meeting with a win, the first two weekends of the season have been a tumultuous period for jockey Antonio Fresu.

Fresu won the first race on opening day on July 20, and then lost with his next 26 mounts before a two-win day last Saturday. He added another win on Sunday to rank in a tie for fifth in the overall standings with four wins, trailing joint leaders Juan Hernandez and Umberto Rispoli who have eight wins through the first six days of racing.

The Texas Thoroughbred Association announced Wednesday that 207 yearlings have been cataloged for the Texas Summer Yearling Sale on Aug. 26 at Lone Star Park near Dallas.

The book also includes a mix of 10 additional horses, including broodmares and weanlings, that will sell as part of a Three Feathers Farm dispersal. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Central.

A year ago, the same auction cataloged a near-record 264 yearlings, according to a press release from the TTA.