Velazquez nearing return

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Ozone Park, NY (Sports Network) - Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who suffered minor fractures last Sunday, will be able to return to riding in time for the Kentucky Derby on May 4.

According to Dr. Stephen O'Brien on the NYRA website, Velazquez can resume riding in races "on the Wednesday of the week of the Kentucky Derby." The champion rider has committed himself to ride Wood Memorial winner Verrazano in the Run for the Roses.

Dr. O'Brien saw Velazquez on Monday after the jockey was released from North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. Sunday evening. The doctor said "that the injuries will heal on their own."