Del Mar: Jockey Mike Smith to skip Breeders’ Cup next weekend

On a day when Mike Smith, Juan Hernandez and apprentice Alexis Centeno opened Del Mar’s seventh fall meeting with two victories apiece, Smith said he’ll be skipping next weekend’s Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland Race Course.
Smith, 55, is the Breeders’ Cup’s all-time winningest rider with 26 victories and $36,634,605 in purse earnings.
This will be only the fourth Breeders’ Cup that Smith has missed since his first one in 1990.
“I’m staying. I don