Wilmer Garcia, who has been in the thick of the battle for leading rider at Prairie Meadows, will miss the remainder of the meet after fracturing two vertebrae in a race Sunday.  

Garcia was injured when his horse clipped heels with another right out of the starting gate during the eighth race and he hit the ground hard, according to his agent, Becky Esch.  

Esch said Garcia fractured his C-4 and C-5 vertebra. Garcia is in a Des Moines, Iowa, hospital, where he is scheduled to have two surgeries Wednesday.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though trainer Christophe Clement mentioned he might give Big Invasion a little freshening following his victory in Sunday’s $150,000 Mahony Stakes, the 3-year-old’s sixth straight win, Clement said Monday that no decision has been made in that regard.

Plans for Big Invasion might be to train him up to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 5 at Keeneland or run in the Grade 3, $600,000 Franklin-Simpson on Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs. The Franklin-Simpson is restricted to 3-year-olds and is run at 6 1/2 furlongs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Yibir, the Breeder’s Cup Turf winner, suffered “a slight setback” that will force him to miss a planned start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer Stakes here Aug. 27, Godolphin announced on Twitter over the weekend.

Yibir was coming off a victory in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes on July 7 at Newmarket. He had the Sword Dancer and perhaps another start in the United States on his agenda leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in November.

Godolphin’s tweet did not indicate how much time Yibir would miss.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – On Monday, trainer Steve Asmussen sent out Jackie’s Warrior and Gunite for a five-furlong move that was completed in 1:00.08.

Jackie’s Warrior, preparing for the Grade 1 Forego here Aug. 27, started a length in front of Gunite and the pair basically finished that way, getting their last quarter in 23.65 seconds. Gunite, winner of the Grade 2 Amsterdam, is pointing to the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens here Aug. 27.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With the Sunday arrival of Rich Strike, the first two finishers of the Kentucky Derby are at the same facility for the first time in more than three months.

On a beautiful Monday morning in Saratoga both Rich Strike and Epicenter had markedly different training sessions as they prepare for their rematch in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 27.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Ce Ce, last year’s champion female sprinter, is scheduled to make her next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina on Aug. 28 at Saratoga, trainer Michael McCarthy said.

Ce Ce was third in last year’s Ballerina, but then won her next two starts, including the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar, to secure the divisional Eclipse Award.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Vegas Magic, upset winner of the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Saturday, likely will make her next start in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, the meet’s championship race for that division, Sept. 10, according to trainer Doug O’Neill.

“I would think so,” O’Neill said. “I’ve got to huddle up with those owners, but that seems like the logical move.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Tyler Baze, who did not show for his rides last Thursday and after meeting with Del Mar’s stewards the following day was excused from racing Friday through Sunday to attend to what the stewards called “personal matters,” has been named on three horses for Thursday’s card.

Baze has four more mounts on Friday’s card, including Freedom Lass in that day’s feature, the $100,000 California Thoroughbred Trainers and Thoroughbred Owners of California Stakes. Those are the only two cards drawn for the upcoming week so far. Saturday’s races are drawn Wednesday.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Going Global, who won her eighth stakes in the last 18 months in Saturday’s Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares on turf, has a predictable schedule through the end of the current Del Mar summer meeting.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said Sunday that Going Global will be pointed to the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Sept. 10, the closing weekend of the current Del Mar meeting.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Big Hopes went from last to first in the span of a quarter-mile in a maiden special weight race for 2-year-old California-bred fillies in Saturday’s second race. She looked like a winner for the final stride and maybe the one before.

The exciting victory is expected to lead to a start in the $125,000 Generous Portion Stakes for statebred 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs on Sept. 5. The goal in the interim is to work with Big Hopes at the gate. She broke slowly in the maiden race and trailed the field for the first three furlongs.