Ralph Siraco's notes

The Los Angeles County Fair racing season continues at Fairplex Park, at the fairgrounds in Pomona, non-stop for 18 straight days through Sept. 26.

The all-time leading rider at Fairplex, David Flores, is not competing on a daily basis and may be seen riding at the bullring on limited horses for stakes engagements. He leads the pack with 286 victories while Martin Pedroza, currently riding daily at the fair, is in the third all-time spot with 238 wins before this season started.

Pedroza has a chance to step into second if he scores 11 or more victories during this stand. Francisco Mena, who is still active but gets few mounts, currently occupies that spot with 248 all-time wins.

The only other active rider of the top 10 all-time Fairplex winners is jockey Corey Black who sits in eighth with 131 victories going into this year. He is also riding on a day to day basis this season.

Speaking of jockeys, Kent Desormeaux may be returning to the saddle a lot quicker than first anticipated. He fractured his right wrist in two places during the running of the last race on the Labor Day racing program at Del Mar. His mount, The Key Rainbow, clipped heels with another runner during the stretch charge and the rider went down sustaining the injuries.

It was first expected that Desormeaux would miss several months of competition while healing, thus missing rides in the November 6th Breeders' Cup races. In order to accelerate the recovery process, Desormeaux will undergo an aggressive rehabilitation program that includes advanced magnetic therapy in an effort to return as soon as possible. His agent, Tony Matos, relayed that if everything goes well he should be back in four to six weeks, about the middle of the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting.

David Gall, the most unheralded jockey to win more than 7,000 races, will retire after riding the card at Fairmount Park in East St. Louis, Ill., on Saturday. Gall, who officially has 7,389 victories, is only behind active riders Pat Day (7,550), Laffit Pincay, Jr. (8,787) and retired leader Bill Shoemaker (8,833).

Gall has a career win percent rate of 17.7, his mounts have won nearly $25 million, and only two jockeys in history -- Pincay and Earlie Fires -- have ridden more horses in competition.

Gall won two national riding titles (1979 and 1981), and, riding in relative obscurity on the bush-league circuit, he has never been nominated to the sport's Hall of Fame. Gall is 57 and his career has spanned 40 years.

Fairplex Park has established the J.C. Gonzalez Memorial Jockey Award that will be presented annually to the leading thoroughbred rider at the Los Angeles County Fair. The award honors the jockey who was killed in a spill on the opening day racing program this year. The trophy will be displayed in front of the jockeys room at the fair beginning next year with a replica presented to the leading jockey of each meeting. Gonzalez was the leading jockey at last year's Fairplex Park meeting with 28 victories.

Checking the 2-year-olds, The Daily Racing Form's top 10 list of juveniles before the Sept. 8 Del Mar Futurity looked like this: 10. Saints Cup, 9. Circle of Life, 8. Dream Supreme, 7. Surfside, 6. Exchange Rate, 5. Diablo's Addition, 4. High Yield, 3. Dixie Union, 2. Chilukki, 1. More Than Ready. Of course, Forest Camp blew away Dixie Union and company in the Del Mar Futurity and will certainly move onto the list this week. The guess here is he moves to the third spot, displacing Dixie Union who he beat handily at the beach.

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