Jockey Nakatani lucks out

The strange roller coaster ride that jockeys take in a business of ups and downs can be well illustrated by one Corey Nakatani.

About the time the 27-year-old Covina, Calif., native was wrapping up his second riding title at Del Mar, Nakatani got a call from the East Coast. It seemed jockey Mike Smith's agent was entertaining an offer to accept the book (engagements) for the Californian after Smith was sidelined with an injury sustained in a spill at Saratoga on Aug. 31. Less than 48 hours before the spill, Smith had enjoyed the shining moment of his Saratoga dominance when he scored the victory aboard Coronado's Quest in the prestigious Travers Stakes at the upstate spa.

At the time of the following Monday accident, Smith was leading the Saratoga riding colony with 30 victories. Now sitting in sick bay with a body cast for back injuries that will keep the eastern talent on the bench for the rest of the year, Smith's agent will now procure mounts for Nakatani at the current Belmont Park fall meet of champions while his main employer heals.

Nakatani secured the Del Mar title this year by taking advantage of another fellow rider who went down in competition. Gary Stevens, who was atop the seaside rider race with 28 victories, sustained a freak injury to his left knee during a warm-up in an Aug. 23 race. Stevens was sidelined for the rest of the Del Mar stand, allowing Nakatani to take the title with 44 victories in the 43-day meeting.

Nakatani had won the "turf meets the surf" title once before in 1994.

With Stevens on the west and Smith on the east forced to watch the racing wars as civilians, Nakatani weighed his options for the best route to secure rides in the upcoming Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 7.

The Southern California racing circuit takes it's upscale "county fair" break while the pivotal Belmont Park fall meet began, so, securing an high profile agent as Smith's and leaving Southern California at the County Fair racing time seemed to be a no-brainer.

Three huge multi-graded stakes weekends that dot the Belmont September-October landscape will allow Nakatani his objective for Breeders' Cup business while Smith and his agent keep their hold on the eastern stables that the rider can return to when he resumes in the saddle.

Nakatani made an immediate impression upon arriving in the Big Apple. He wasted no time in locating the Belmont winners circle, visiting the coveted enclosure upon completion of his first ride. That was a warm-up for Sunday's "just showin' off" performance.

In another twist of fate, jockey John Velazquez, who was the winning recipient of Smith's untimely vacation to take the Saratoga title, was a victim of another spill on Saturday that kept him grounded Sunday.

Nakatani, again in the right place at the right time, picked up a pair of Velazquez winning mounts in addition to three of his own to snag a five-bagger at Belmont that was capped off with a masterful ride in the featured Garden City Breeders' Cup Handicap aboard the Irish import Pharatta. For Nakatani, it appears that the first "Breeders' Cup building blocks" have already been laid.

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