After conferring
with his doctor (Dr. Stephen O’Brien) on Monday, jockey Ramon Dominguez will
ride a few horses on Friday and Saturday each of the next two weeks, and aim to
return to a full schedule of mounts starting on Wednesday, April 18.
“The doctor was happy with the progress I have made and the tests
looked great, but he feels that we should take a conservative approach for
now,” said Dominguez, the two-time defending North American Eclipse
champion jockey who suffered a separated collarbone in a spill at Aqueduct on
Sunday, March 18.
Dominguez is expected to ride Alpha in the Grade 1, $1 million Resorts
World Casino New York City Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on Saturday, April 7, New
York’s final major prep race for the May 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill
Downs.
The Wood Memorial will be televised as part of a 90-minute live broadcast
on NBC’s Road to the Kentucky Derby
series, airing from 4:30 – 6 p.m.
The following weekend, Dominguez is scheduled to ride two 2011 Eclipse
champions in Grade 1 events; Horse of the Year Havre de Grace in the Apple
Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on Friday, April 13 and 2-year-old champion
Hansen in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday, April 14.
Dominguez, 35, has dominated The New York Racing Association, Inc.
(NYRA) circuit as the leading jockey each of the past three years, while
racking up 16 individual meet titles at Aqueduct, Belmont Park,
and Saratoga Race Course.