ALBANY, Calif. - Roberto Gonzalez made a rare afternoon visit to Golden Gate Fields on Saturday. The 55-year-old jockey is still recovering from major injuries suffered on April 29 when his mount lost action in her rear legs and went down. He suffered a broken C2 vertebrae in his neck and broken left heel.

Gonzalez, the dean of Bay Area riders and winner of 4,387 races, still undergoes physical therapy on his neck three times a week. Gonzalez says his legs bother him and his neck is still stiff.

"It's a slow recovery," he said. "I've done too much damage to my body."

Robert Shields, an exercise rider at Tampa Bay Downs, died from injuries suffered in an accident at the track on Monday morning. Shields was 60 years old.

According to track officials, Shields was aboard a 3-year-old gelding named Gael Lea who suddenly reared up and fell on him while in the gap area preparing to enter the racetrack for a routine gallop. Gael Lea has never started.

According to Margo Flynn, vice president of marketing and publicity at Tampa Bay Downs, no further details have been made available by the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It has been a tremendous winter in New York for trainer Todd Pletcher, and it's not even half-over yet. Pletcher won his seventh stakes of the inner-track season Sunday when Tiger's Rock rallied past stablemate Nite Light in the final furlong to win the $60,000 Coyote Lakes Stakes by a half-length.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday may propel jockey Garrett Gomez to bigger prizes in coming months.

Gomez rides Viscount in Saturday's $200,000 Strub Stakes, and a win in that race would lead the 4-year-old to the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6. On Sunday, Gomez and Richard's Kid start in the $150,000 San Antonio Handicap, a prep for the Dubai World Cup on March 27.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Bill Mott got off to a bit of a slow start when the meet opened, but the Hall of Famer closed out January on a roll after sending out two of his top 3-year-old prospects, Drosselmeyer and Comic Marvel, to impressive allowance wins Sunday.

Drosselmeyer, a son of Distorted Humor, likely put himself on the Kentucky Derby trail by rallying to a 1 3/4-length entry-level allowance win . The victory was the second in a row for Drosselmeyer, who was an even easier maiden winner in his 2-year-old finale 10 weeks earlier at Churchill Downs.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Several jockeys riding here at Tampa Bay Downs for the first time this meet have made an impact, topped by Leandro Goncalves.

Goncalves, a 27-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, graduated from a jockey school there at age 15 and rode in his native country from 1998 until 2004. He went to England then to California before settling in the Midwest.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The conversation between trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Martin Garcia before Sunday's at Santa Anita was like a halftime chat between a coach and player.

Baffert scolded Garcia for going too fast on Underground in the seventh race, when that filly finished second. Baffert did not want to see the same result aboard Gabby's Golden Gal in the Grade 1 Santa Monica.

NEW ORLEANS - Rachel Alexandra worked Sunday morning for the first time since her Sept. 5 victory in the Woodward, going a half-mile in 52 seconds at Fair Grounds.

The 2009 Horse of the Year emerged from her barn at 6:25 a.m., with regular exercise rider Dominic Terry aboard and accompanied on pony by Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.

Accompanied by the pony, she walked the wrong way until past the finish line, where Blasi turned her around and accompanied her before turning her loose on the backstretch.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sunday's at Gulfstream Park drew one of the strongest and most competitive fields in the 30-year history of the event, a group that included recently named Eclipse Award winner She Be Wild. But in the end, the seven-furlong fixture for 3-year-old fillies proved no contest as Bickersons ran her 10 rivals off their feet en route to a convincing seven- length triumph over the 51-1 Joanie's Catch.

Kera's Kitten sped straight to the lead and was never seriously threatened the rest of the way Saturday in capturing the at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

With Tommy Pompell riding for trainer Mike Maker, Kera's Kitten was a bit rank around the first turn of the one-mile Polytrack race but soon leveled off, maintaining an open lead and finishing 2 1/2 lengths before Slewzoom in a field of 12 3-year-olds. Lucky Chuck, the 3-1 favorite, was another 3 3/4 lengths back in third.