Tyler Baze sidelined with broken finger
Tyler Baze, second in the Del Mar rider standings behind Joel Rosario, is expected to be sidelined at least a week after fracturing the pinky finger on his left hand when dumped during the post parade for Saturday's 10th race.
R. Bee Ess, trained by Carla Gaines, unseated Baze as the horses walked to the gate for the maiden special weight on grass, ran off and had to be scratched after it took several minutes for outriders to catch the horse.
Baze went into Saturday's action with 29 victories -- six fewer than Rosario. Both riders blanked Saturday, but Rosario won the Solana Beach Handicap on Sunday aboard You Lift Me Up to open a 36-29 edge in the standings.
The injury comes at a bad time for the 26-year-old Baze, who was scheduled to ride Monterey Jazz in next Saturday's $300,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Mile and also will lose his mount in the $250,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Sunday.
Baze's agent, Ron Ebanks, hopes his client can return in time to ride the Jeff Mullins-trained Battle of Hastings in the $350,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 6, Pacific Classic day.
Garrett Gomez, who got off to a slow start at Del Mar, rode four winners Sunday to move into fifth place in the jockey standings with 20 victories.
Looks like Gomez has caught his stride and he's riding much better now than the first part of the meeting.