SOLIS IS EAGER TO ERASE SCARY THOUGHTS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

HORSE RACING 

ARCADIA - Alex Solis, scared?

The jockey knows that's one theory going around Santa Anita for why a star of the jockeys' room is looking up at the track's top 10 as he prepares to ride a 12-1 shot named Boboman in Saturday's $1million Santa Anita Handicap.

There are trainers, handicappers and horseplayers who think the soon-to- be-43-year-old never got over the 2004 accident at Del Mar that sidelined him for five months with a fractured vertebra in the neck, broken ribs and a punctured lung.

They diagnose him with a debilitating case of the wides, see him taking too many mounts to the outside of the track, out of traffic and out of danger -- but often out of luck because those horses have to cover more ground than horses running close to the rail.

The thought wipes the usual smile from Solis' sharp features.

"The day I'm afraid of coming (through) on the rail, or I'm afraid of riding a race, I don't belong on the track," Solis said Thursday morning. "If that would have been the case, then it would have happened a year and a half ago. Why now?"

Can he change the amateur psychologists' opinion? We'll find out in the second half of the Santa Anita meet, as Solis works to win back the favor of the circuit's big barns after slipping to 11th in the standings going into Thursday's races with 13 wins in 105 races (12.3 percent).

One thing Solis clearly is not scared of: He doesn't hesitate to say what he thinks is the reason for a 14-for-161 (8.7 percent) slump covering the Hollywood Park fall meet and the start of Santa Anita.

"Maybe it's because I got a little bit lazy lately," Solis said. "I have to be honest with myself. I can (blame) many things that are out of my control, but I have to worry about what I do. I have to do my job the way I'm supposed to."

Fittingly, as Solis spoke while walking among the Santa Anita stables Thursday morning, a rooster crowed outside a nearby barn.

The Panama native, who has three Santa Anita riding titles and 12 top- five finishes -- more top-fives than any other jockey since 1990-91 -- said he has rededicated himself to early wakeup calls, to exercising horses for more trainers, to doing other things that used to be second nature.

"When I broke my back in 2004, I was very motivated to do the things I'd done before," Solis said. "After (a while), I guess I got comfortable and lost my fire."

It was about three weeks ago, he said, that he got tired of riding only one or two horses a day -- and horses below the old quality.

"I've worked hard my whole life to be here, and I love winning races," Solis said. "(That thought) fired me up and got me motivated. ... This is my life. I really opened my eyes. I used to study races, ride the mechanical horses and so on. I've come back to my old patterns, feel much better and have been getting a good response from (trainers)."

Things have picked up a little. In four racing days Feb.18-23, Solis rode five winners.

A year ago, Solis was a nominee for thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame, was riding Brother Derek in the Kentucky Derby preps, and was the last jockey you'd expect to cop to laziness.

But Solis came up short in the Hall of Fame vote, Brother Derek's fourth- place finish denied the rider a Derby victory, and several of his strongest barns went cold. Having failed to cultivate other trainers, he had few to fall back on. No longer on the best horses, he couldn't afford to keep going wide.

Yet race watchers saw him go wide repeatedly.

After Solis won twice Feb.19, Daily News handicapper Bob Ike wrote in his blog (at bobikepicks.com): "Solis rode aggressively today, saving ground inside while sitting behind horses ... Let's just hope he puts up more rides like these instead of the safe, wide-trip variety we have been seeing from him."

Brother Derek's ankle-chip surgery left Solis without a Santa Anita Handicap mount until Richard Mandella signed him up to ride Hollywood Turf Cup winner Boboman, hoping the jockey and trainer can repeat their 1998 Big 'Cap score with Malek.

Solis has nine horses on the 11-race card, including Florida imports Saint Paul (against Great Hunter and seven others) in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds and After Market (against Charmo and 10 others) in the $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf.

Hard to believe: It's a mark of how much the concept of handicaps has been diluted that if Lava Man wins the Big'Cap, his 124-pound assignment will be the highest carried to victory in the race since Best Pal's 124 in 1992, which was the most since Alysheba's 126 in 1988.

The Big 'Cap lineup: Awesome Gem, El Roblar, Boboman, Ball Four, Spring at Last, Molengao, Lava Man, Arson Squad, McCann's Mojave. (A look at the field is at insidesocal.com/wordsandnumbers.)

The weekend: The race likely to have the most lasting impact is Saturday's $350,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, with current Kentucky Derby favorite Nobiz Like Shobiz, Hollywood Futurity winner Stormello, Swale winner Adore the Gold and Champagne winner Scat Daddy in a nine-horse field (ESPNews, 2:20 p.m.).

Corinthian, the 2006 Fountain of Youth winner, heads the $350,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

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- Kevin Modesti and Associated Press