Ramon Dominguez, who has effectively sewn up his fourth straight riding title on the New York Racing Association circuit, will miss the next three weeks of racing after recently bruising his left foot at Aqueduct Racetrack, according to his agent, Steve Rushing.
“It wasn’t getting better, so he saw a specialist who advised him to take some time off,” said Rushing. “Nothing is broken.”
Aqueduct will be dark Dec. 17-25, with Dominguez, the two-time reigning Eclipse Award winner for outstanding jockey, scheduled to return when racing resumes Dec. 26.
“He’s going to take a few weeks off, and that will take us through the winter break,” said Rushing. “He’ll be back the day after Christmas.”
Despite the injury, Dominguez on Nov. 24, won the Cigar Mile Handicap (gr. I) with Stay Thirsty , Gazelle Stakes (gr. I) with Dance Card, and the Remsen (gr. II) with Overanalyze .
Through Nov. 26, Dominguez has won 309 races on the NYRA circuit in 2012, 138 more than second-place jockey Javier Castellano. This year, Dominguez has captured meet titles during the Aqueduct winter, Belmont Park spring/summer, Saratoga Race Course in the summer, and Belmont fall meets. He leads Joel Rosario 32-16 during the current Aqueduct fall meet.