Victor Espinoza beginning home rehab for spinal injury

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Victor Espinoza was released from a local rehabilitation clinic early Thursday afternoon, 11 days after he suffered a fractured vertebra in a training accident at Del Mar on July 22.

Espinoza was scheduled to begin in-home physical therapy on Friday, according to his agent, Brian Beach.

The 46-year-old rider was hospitalized until July 27, when he was transferred to the rehab center. Espinoza is expected to remain in the Del Mar area in coming weeks and will wear a neck brace through August.

There is no timetable on a return to riding, Beach said.

The injury occurred when Espinoza was exercising the graded stakes winner Bobby Abu Dhabi, who was fatally stricken with a possible cardiac event during a workout.

Espinoza is best known for winning the Kentucky Derby three times, most recently aboard Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015. He won the race in 2014 with the popular twotime Horse of the Year California Chrome.

Outside of racing, Espinoza gained national fame when he appeared on the popular television program “Dancing With The Stars” in 2015.

Catalina Cruiser works back

The undefeated stakes winner Catalina Cruiser worked a halfmile in 48 seconds on Friday at Del Mar, moving closer to a start in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 1.

Friday’s workout was the first for Catalina Cruiser since an emphatic win by 7 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles here on July 21 in his stakes debut.

Trainer John Sadler said he timed Catalina Cruiser galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.80 on Friday.

“His energy level looks right,” Sadler said. “He’s very relaxed.”

Owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, Catalina Cruiser has won three starts – a maiden race at Santa Anita last October and an optional claimer at six furlongs there on May 19.

Hronis Racing and Sadler have the multiple stakes winner Accelerate as the leading contender for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic here on Aug. 18, and plan to send Catalina Cruiser to the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.

“The timing is perfect,” Sadler said. “That’s the number one race on his chart.”

In other notable works on Friday, City of Light, the winner of three graded stakes since Christmas, worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds. Trained by Michael McCarthy, City of Light is scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at seven furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 25.

Skye Diamonds worked five furlongs in 1:00.60. She won the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Stakes at Del Mar in 2017 and is set to start in the same race on Aug. 12.

Pavel, the winner of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 9, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60. Pavel rates as a leading contender for the Pacific Classic.

Retired rider Grant dies at 79

Howard Grant, one of the top riders on the Southern California circuit in the early 1970s, died on Wednesday in Florida at the age of 79, according to his daughter, Deborah Lassiter.

Grant was the leading rider the summer of 1971 at Del Mar, a season highlighted by a victory in the Del Mar Derby. He was widely respected for his skill in the saddle and his perseverance in battling through weight problems.

“He was a hell of a rider,” Ron McAnally, the Hall of Fame trainer, said at his Del Mar barn on Friday morning. “We won a lot of races together.”

Grant won 1,944 races during his career. His last ride was at the Meadowlands in 1984, but by then he rode only on occasion. After retiring from riding, he was a racing official for years at River Downs in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. He retired from that position about nine years ago, Lassiter said.

Grant spent much of his time on the East Coast in the 1960s before moving to California, where he won titles at Del Mar and the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.

Grant, married twice, had three children – Lassiter, and sons Jimmy Grant and Aubin Grant – and seven grandchildren. Lassiter said no services are planned.

Tyfosha returns in sprint

Tyfosha was given the opportunity to make the best 3-yearold filly races of the spring earlier this year, but after finishing last in the Ashland Stakes on April 7 she was given a break. She returns in a first-level allowance sprint on Sunday in race 6 at Del Mar.

“She came out of the Ashland loaded with mucus,” trainer Doug O’Neill said Friday morning. “She had a deep respiratory infection. She’s been training real well, and we’re going back to one turn. I think she’ll run well.”

Tyfosha finished second in a pair of maiden races here last summer, including behind eventual Del Mar Debutante winner Moonshine Memories.

◗ Tijori was kept out of the Sorrento Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar in favor of stablemate Bellafina, but is a possibility for the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack Stakes on Aug. 11 at Saratoga, trainer Simon Callaghan said.