In Last-Minute Change, Velazquez to Make Comeback at Belmont Park

By Claire Novak
Jockey John Velazquez, originally planning a return to racing aboard the Todd Pletcher-trained Scat Daddy at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, will make his comeback Friday at Belmont Park instead. According to Velazquez's agent, Angel Cordero, the jockey's original mount scratched at Monmouth and will run Saturday at Belmont.

"We put him on another Pletcher horse here," Cordero said from Belmont Friday morning. "He'll ride Scat Daddy on Saturday as well."

Velazquez, a two-time Eclipse Award winner, has been sidelined since he incurred a broken shoulder and cracked ribs in a spill at Keeneland Race Course. He will replace Garrett Gomez as the jockey for the Pletcher-trained gelding Mr Sam I Am in Friday's fourth race at Belmont, a six-furlong event for New York-breds on the turf.