Antley Will Go to Court Over Suspension

Chris Antley, who is scheduled to ride Meadow Star if the champion filly makes her debut as a 3-year-old Saturday in New York, will go to court in Los Angeles today to fight a Santa Anita suspension that would keep him from making the assignment.

Antley was suspended for five days, starting today, by the Santa Anita stewards for his role in a spill that injured Laffit Pincay in last Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap. Suspensions are usually honored by other racing jurisdictions.

An appeal of the suspension by Richard Craigo, Antley’s attorney, has been denied by the California Horse Racing Board. Craigo said Wednesday that he will appeal the stewards’ ruling today in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Pincay was unseated and suffered two cracked ribs in the Big ‘Cap after his mount, My Boy Adam, clipped the heels of Anshan, a horse in front of them, about halfway around the far turn. My Boy Adam stumbled, causing Pincay to fall. Pincay is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.

My Boy Adam was boxed in on the rail at the time of the accident, and the stewards ruled that Antley, aboard Defensive Play, prevented Pincay from getting his horse clear. None of the three horses figured in the purse money, with Defensive Play finishing sixth and Anshan coming in eighth. My Boy Adam, who was not injured, completed the course.

None of the three jockeys attended the stewards’ hearing into the incident, which was conducted Sunday. Angel Cordero, who rode Anshan, had gone back to New York, Pincay was recovering from his injuries and Antley had riding commitments at Gulfstream Park in Florida. Chris McCarron, who didn’t ride in the Big ‘Cap, represented Antley at the hearing.

Meadow Star, a Kentucky Derby candidate who won all seven of her races as a 2-year-old, is a possible starter Saturday in the seven-furlong Queen of the Stage Stakes at Aqueduct. Antley was scheduled to ride her last week at Gulfstream Park, but she was scratched from the race because of an outbreak of hives.