Knee Surgery Sidelines Hall of Fame Jockey Stevens

Gary Stevens guided Oxbow to victory in the 2013 Preakness Stakes. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
Jockey Gary Stevens said that recurring knee troubles will force him to the sidelines for surgery followed by a period of rest, but the Hall of Fame rider hopes to continue riding.
Stevens on Thursday revealed to HRTV that he needs knee-replacement surgery and that doctors told him the normal recovery period following the procedure is six months.
“In my mind, I'm not finished right now,” he said on television. “That’s my goal, to get rid of that pain and see where we are from there.”
After a seven-year retirement caused by knee injuries, Stevens made the decision to return to the saddle in 2013. The season developed into a Hollywood script when he won three of the biggest races of the year: the Preakness Stakes on Oxbow, the Breeders' Cup Distaff on Beholder, and the Breeders' Cup Classic on Mucho Macho Man in addition to 14 other graded stakes races. 
Read Tom Pedulla's recap of the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic: A Classic Too Good to Be True
GARY STEVENS: THE COMEBACK KID

The 2013 Preakness victory was Stevens's ninth win in a Triple Crown race. He has won each of the three jewels three times. Stevens won Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey in 1998, the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1996 and the Big Sport of Turfdom Award in 2013. He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1997.
STEVENS THROUGH THE YEARS