Stevens Out at Least 3 Weeks Because of Break

Gary Stevens, the leading rider at Santa Anita last winter and second in the standings to Kent Desormeaux at the current Hollywood Park meeting, will be out of action for at least three weeks because of a broken left thumb.

In New York on Monday to ride Bertrando in the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap, Stevens was hurt when Tah Tah Teetah, a filly he was riding in the day’s first race, unseated him as the horses came onto the track.

“She threw me underneath the lead pony, and the pony stepped on my hand,” Stevens said.

Stevens iced the hand and was cleared to ride Bertrando, who finished second behind Ibero, in the Metropolitan. The fracture, which extended from the knuckle to the joint, was then discovered and a soft cast was put on the injury.

“I’m a little depressed,” Stevens said. “Everything was going so well. It’s been great the last four or five months. . . .

“It’s pretty painful right now. There’s nothing worse for a jockey than an injury to a finger or a toe. It eats on your mind when you’re sitting on a horse, so I’m not going to rush it and try to come back too early.”