Hot Apprentice Martin Garcia Breaks Wrist

(from Golden Gate Fields)
Apprentice Martin Garcia, the leading jockey at Golden Gate Fields, broke a bone in his left wrist and sustained a contusion on his right forehead when he went down in the stretch run of Friday's fourth race.

The wrist injury means Garcia will likely miss the remainder of the spring meeting, which concludes May 7. Garcia, who won the third race Friday with Smitten's Kitten, holds a 107-89 lead in the jockey standings over perennial champion Russell Baze. Garcia was scheduled to ride Romeo Plus in Saturday's $400,000 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IIT).

"He has a very small, undisplaced fracture in his left wrist," reported Dr. David Seftel, track physician at Golden Gate Fields. "It's at the tip of his left radius. He'll be out at least a week."

Dr. Seftel added that Garcia could resume riding with the aid of a wrist brace following one week of inactivity.

Garcia hit the turf hard when his mount, Danzig Fox, feel after clipping heels with Flying Bye Nite. Marv's Marvel, who crossed wire first in the one-mile turf race for maidens, was disqualified and placed last for drifting out in the stretch and causing the interference that resulted in Flying Bye Nite moving into the path of Danzig Fox.

Garcia, who ranks second in the nation in wins this year with 147 victories, has made plans to begin riding full time at Hollywood Park on May 10.