Racing at Santa Anita : Shoemaker Faces Operation, Loses Ride on Ferdinand in Strub

Bill Shoemaker said Sunday that he would be out of action for about two weeks after he undergoes arthroscopic surgery Tuesday on his left knee for cartilage damage.

The 55-year-old Shoemaker was limping badly Saturday after winning the Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita on Very Subtle. Shoemaker said that he decided to have the surgery now, even though it will cost him the mount next Sunday on Ferdinand in the $500,000 Charles H. Strub Stakes. Ferdinand gave Shoemaker his fourth Kentucky Derby win last year.

“If I rode Ferdinand next Sunday and he didn’t win, everybody might say it was because I had a sore knee,” Shoemaker said. “So it’s just as well that I get it fixed up while it’s hurting.”

Shoemaker, whose stakes win Saturday increased his record career total to 964, had a similar operation on his right knee in 1981. He was sidelined for a month.

“The operation was perfect and that knee’s fine now,” Shoemaker said. “The reason it took me so long to recover is because I took off the bandages before I should have and it got infected.”

Tuesday’s operation will be done in Dr. Robert Kerlan’s office at Centinela Hospital. The surgery will take about an hour and Shoemaker said he will be able to recuperate by exercising the knee at home.

Shoemaker said that his left knee started bothering him six months ago. He has periodically had fluid removed from the knee.

“When I’m riding, it doesn’t feel too bad,” Shoemaker said. “It’s walking afterwards that bothers me. I didn’t think I was going to make it back to the jocks’ room Saturday.”

Shoemaker has won three stakes--one with Ferdinand--at Santa Anita, which is one less than Laffit Pincay, the meet leader. Shoemaker ranks sixth in the overall standings with 14 wins.

Ferdinand, who has made 14 career starts, will be ridden by a jockey other than Shoemaker for the first time in the Strub. Charlie Whittingham, who trains Ferdinand, indicated Sunday that either Gary Stevens or Eddie Delahoussaye would get the mount.

Shoemaker might have had another stakes win Sunday. Epidaurus, Shoemaker’s scheduled mount in the $153,800 San Pasqual Handicap, was ridden by Gary Baze to a 3/4-length win over Ascension before 43,335.

Thrill Show, considered the stronger half of the Whittingham-trained entry, carried top weight of 122 pounds in his first start on dirt and ran sixth, finishing ahead of only Important Business in the seven-horse field. Santa Anita’s track has been favoring speed recently, making it difficult for horses to come from off the pace and win.

Epidaurus, earning $90,800 for his owner and breeder, Howard Keck, led all the way. Polynesian Flyer was close to the pace, then faded, and Ascension, who had won at 74-1 in his last start, made a run at Epidaurus from the middle of the pack, but couldn’t close the gap.

Running 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 2/5, Epidaurus paid $3, $2.20 and $2.10 as the 1-2 favorite with stablemate Thrill Show. Ascension, who went off at 23-1, paid $5.40 and $2.60, finishing a nose in front of another unsuccessful closer, Nostalgia’s Star, who paid $2.20.

Although he hadn’t won a race since last September, Epidaurus had finished second to a couple of prominent horses, Super Diamond and Hopeful Word. Baze, winning his first stakes race of the season, learned that he was going to replace Shoemaker on Sunday morning.

“The race set up real good for him,” Baze said. “There wasn’t that much speed. He kept bearing down. Every time somebody came to him, he kept trying.”

Gary Stevens, riding Thrill Show, indicated that the French-raced horse needed the San Pasqual to get accustomed to dirt.

“When dirt hit him on the backside, he got unrelaxed,” Stevens said. “He used himself up then. He was tense and didn’t have anything left to finish with.”

Horse Racing Notes

Epidaurus is a 5-year-old son of Ack Ack and Nas-Mahal. . . . Precisionist, whose career ended when he broke a bone in his leg during a workout at Santa Anita on Jan. 9, will stand at stud at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla. Fred Hooper, owner and breeder of the 6-year-old who earned $3 million, has sold a 50% interest in Precisionist to Arthur Appleton, who owns Bridlewood. . . . Sandy Hawley, sidelined since last November because of back surgery, returned to action Sunday and, riding Rodney in the first race, was just nipped at the wire. . . . Alex Solis, out since mid-December with a broken leg and thumb suffered in a spill at Hollywood Park, is expected to resume riding Friday. . . . Dave Patton, a 24-year-old apprentice, rode back-to-back winners. Patton’s second winner, Dad’s Quest, hadn’t won a race since 1984 and paid $102.40. . . . Vernon Castle, winner of the California Derby and the Del Mar Derby last year, had knee surgery for bone chips and probably will return to training in the spring.