HORSE RACING : Pincay to Be Sidelined for at Least a Month With Broken Collarbone

Sitting in his Glendale mountaintop home Saturday afternoon, nursing his pride and a broken collarbone, Laffit Pincay was still wondering what went wrong Friday night at Los Alamitos Race Course.

Pincay was injured in the last of three charity harness races when his pacer, Trixie Norton, stumbled and flipped at the start.

Pincay, 43, fractured his right collarbone and suffered bruises on his right hip and left leg. He has been fitted with an elastic shoulder brace and will be out of action for at least a month.

“This was a one-in-a-zillion chance,” said trainer Roger Stein, who saw the Pincay spill. “He was in a jogging cart, which is usually very, very safe. I feel terrible about this because I was one of the people who checked the equipment before the race.”

Pincay said he sensed something amiss with Trixie Norton as they approached the arm of the starting gate.

“I felt the horse go kind of weak,” said Pincay, who had won one of the earlier races. “But then she picked it up again and was going all right. It was just when they started the race when she went weak on me again and stumbled.”

Pincay was flung into the air when Trixie Norton flipped and landed hard. He remained conscious, and by the time he was loaded into the track ambulance, he had a queasy feeling his collarbone was cracked.

“I ought to know, I’ve broken it enough times,” said Pincay, who remembered at least seven other similar injuries. “I could feel the bone had separated.

“I really didn’t need a month off now, either. I was feeling good and riding good, getting on a lot of runners. I was right there fighting for the lead in the standings, which is a lot of fun for me.”

Through Friday’s Santa Anita program, Pincay was in a three-way tie for third in the local jockey race, six victories behind Gary Stevens. Pincay was also just a victory shy of Bill Shoemaker’s all-time Santa Anita win total of 2,544.

Of more significance, however, are the important races Pincay will miss the next four to five weeks. He was scheduled to ride Music Merci in the $500,000 Strub Stakes on Feb. 4 and champion mare Bayakoa in the $300,000 Santa Margarita Invitational on Feb. 18. Bayakoa could also run in the Feb. 4 Santa Maria Handicap.

Ron McAnally, Bayakoa’s trainer, learned of Pincay’s injury Saturday morning.

“I didn’t even know he was driving in a harness race,” McAnally said. “There’s always a chance something like that can happen. I’m a little surprised he was involved.”

Craig Lewis, who trains Music Merci, expressed similar chagrin.

“I heard what he was doing, and I didn’t like it,” Lewis said.

McAnally has arranged for Chris McCarron to work Bayakoa a mile on the grass this morning. McAnally will wait until later in the week to decide whether or not to run the Argentine mare in the Santa Maria; but it can be assumed that if all goes well in the workout, McCarron will have the mount.

Lewis also has a workout scheduled for Music Merci today, but as of Saturday afternoon he had not named a Strub Stakes replacement for Pincay.

Ironically, Pincay’s appearance at Los Alamitos with six other jockeys was a benefit for the Don MacBeth Memorial Fund, which aids disabled and financially needy riders. The fund was founded by McCarron, his wife Judy, and comedian Tim Conway, a horse owner.

“One thing is for sure,” said McCarron, who was nearly knocked out of his sulky when Pincay’s horse fell. “That will be the last harness race you see C.J. McCarron and Laffit Pincay in for a long, long time.”

Horse Racing Notes

Pat Valenzuela returned from a five-day suspension to win with his first mount back, the $10,000 claimer Wilmont in Saturday’s first race for Laz Barrera, and won the last race as well on Alabob’s Pleasure. . . . Chris McCarron’s four victories moved him to the top of the jockey standings, 28-27, over Gary Stevens. McCarron iced a four-winner day with a narrow victory aboard Fit to Scout in the $105,625 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Fit to Scout outdueled Bright Candles, under Stevens, to win the 7-furlong event in 1:23 4/5. The winner returned $10.60.