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Santos likely out until mid-August


BALTIMORE - Jockey Jose Santos, who broke his right wrist on Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course, on Monday said he was scheduled to have surgery Tuesday and would be out of action for two to three months.

The surgery will be performed at Long Island Jewish Hospital, near Santos's home in New York.

The most immediate casualty for Santos is that he will miss the mount on Griffinite in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. But Santos also had other top mounts lined up over the next few weeks, reflecting the strong showing he has made in recent months. Santos won several stakes last month at Keeneland, including the Lafayette Stakes on Griffinite, and on Saturday he won the Hawthorne Derby with Kalu, who tossed Santos while jogging back to the winner's circle.

"I was so happy I had won the race," Santos said when reached by phone. "We turned around to jog back, and after about five steps I found myself on the ground, holding my hand. He went to the outside fence. He's just a baby. He's only run five times. It's not his fault."

X-rays taken Monday revealed three fractures in the wrist, according to Santos's wife, Rita.

"They're going to put screws and pins in it, and he'll have them in for six weeks," Rita Santos said."It doesn't look like Jose will be back until the second or third week of Saratoga."