Krone Needs More Time Off

Jockey Julie Krone, injured in a spill last Friday at Hollywood Park, will miss the remainder of the track’s autumn meet, which concludes Sunday, and possibly the beginning of Santa Anita’s winter-spring season, which opens on Dec. 26.

Injured when Clover Situation, her mount in last Friday’s third race, was unable to avoid Skidoo, who suffered a fatal leg injury, Krone, 40, saw an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tom Harris, on Tuesday after undergoing an MRI scan the day before.

Harris indicated that Krone, who is still scheduled to undergo a CT scan, separated ribs in front and back and had possible fractures of the ribs and sternum. In addition, she suffered some severe soft tissue damage.

With Krone sidelined, jockey David Flores has picked up the mount on Victory U.S.A., who almost certainly will be favored in Sunday’s $200,000 Hollywood Starlet, a Grade I for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles. Owned by Tom Van Meter, the daughter of Victory Gallop will be trying to give trainer Bob Baffert his third Starlet win since 1998.

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Ryan Fogelsonger, injured when he was unseated from one of his mounts on the same card on which Krone was hurt, has a tear in his shoulder that will keep him out at least three weeks, said his agent.

“He has a tear in his shoulder where the muscle keeps away from the bone,” Michelle Barsotti said after Fogelsonger, who came to California from Maryland earlier in the year, underwent an MRI at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. “He’s in a sling and can’t have movement of the arm until it heals.”

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Patrick Valenzuela, who sat out all five days of racing last week because of flu, regained the top spot in the local jockey standings with two wins Wednesday.

Trying to sweep the five major race meets on the local circuit -- Santa Anita winter-spring, Hollywood Park spring-summer, Del Mar, Oak Tree and Hollywood Park fall -- Valenzuela won the second with Slew’s Prince and the seventh with Midafternoon to give him 24 winners in Inglewood, one more than Krone and two more than Victor Espinoza with four days remaining.