Jockey Jerry Bailey returned to the saddle yesterday at Belmont Park for the first time since Sept. 1 when he broke his wrist falling off a ladder at his Florida home.

The Hall of Famer showed no ill effects from the injury, finishing fourth on a pair of mounts: My Muchacha, 7-2 in the fourth race, and Soul Star, the 9-5 favorite in the sixth.

“It’s good to be back,” Bailey said. “I feel pretty good. There was no pain, no stiffness. I’m very fit. All the faculties were there. The horses could have run a little better, but they ran OK.”

Bailey has seven mounts lined up for the eight Breeders’ Cup races Oct. 30 at Lone Star Park, according to his agent, Ron Anderson.

“We’re riding Six Perfections in the Mile, Kela in the Sprint, Storm Flag Flying in the Distaff and Pleasantly Perfect in the Classic,” Anderson said yesterday. “I’ll be on three more for sure, but I can’t tell you who they are yet.”

Bailey’s six weeks on the sidelines, however, did cost him the ride on one of the Breeders’ Cup’s top contenders, Kitten’s Joy, the likely favorite for the $2 million Turf. Subbing for Bailey, John Velazquez rode Kitten’s Joy to win the Oct. 2 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont.

Owner Ken Ramsey, saying he wasn’t sure Bailey would return at 100 percent, opted to keep Johnny V. aboard.

“I feel he’s making a mistake,” Bailey said. “If I were back riding for a week and wasn’t doing well, then he’d have a great argument. But I won a lot of races on that horse.

“Dick Mandella [trainer of Pleasantly Perfect] didn’t have a problem, and he’s got the best horse in the world. But it’s [Ramsey’s] horse. He makes the decisions. I’ve gotten a lot of mounts that way [when other riders were injured] so it would sound like sour grapes if I went whining down the street.”