Noted jockey agent Anderson finds winner in Nakatani
Jockey agents are as recognizable to the general public as caddies are on the PGA Tour. That means virtually invisible. But that is where the comparison ends.
A top golfer can win on the PGA Tour with a merely competent caddie doing his job. In horse racing, a top jockey won’t win races unless his agent books him to ride the fastest horses. The horse makes the jockey, not the other way around.
The best jockey agent of the modern era is Ron Anderson. You’ll know his body of work by some of the great riders for whom he’s booked mounts: Gary Stevens, Chris Antley, Jerry Bailey and Garrett Gomez.
Anderson and Gomez split up in late March after five years, in part to Gomez wanting to return to California and Anderson wanting to stay back East. Anderson then took over the booking of up-and-coming rider Alan Garcia.
It’s been a lean year thus far for Anderson and Garcia. Garcia is not even among the top 25 riders in purse earnings, atypical for an Anderson jockey. Now enter Corey Nakatani.
Nakatani is one of the most talented jockeys in horse racing. He’s been looking to relocate his business from Southern California, and what better agent to team up with than Anderson.
On Saturday at Belmont Park, lightning struck when Nakatani won with his first six mounts. Even more remarkable was none of the six horses was favored. In his seventh and final ride of the day, Nakatani lost to favored Rubber Ducky.
Nakatani showed all his skill in winning races every way imaginable. He won on the lead in two Grade 1 stakes with My Miss Aurelia (Frizette) and Western Aristocrat (Jamaica) and with Tapizar. He won from off the pace with Monzante and Two Months Rent, and came from dead last with Precious Metal. Nakatani won on turf and dirt, going long and short. He was in a zone.
This should bode well for Anderson moving forward. He now has two top East Coast jockeys to offer to trainers and momentum to build upon.
Anderson told the Daily Racing Form that his two jockeys will ride at Aqueduct over the winter. The reason? Purse money is expected to skyrocket to $375,000 per day in anticipation of revenue from the new casino at the track.
It’ll be interesting to see if Anderson will have the same success with his two riders that Scotty McClellan had with Chris McCarron and Alex Solis in California some years ago. Regardless, it’s nice to sit at the poker table holding two aces.
Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.
