Oaklawn Park report

Nakatani a fit for Almighty

Thursday, January 10, 2013

— Corey

Nakatani will ride Brown

Almighty in the $150,000

Smarty Jones Stakes on

Jan. 21 at Oaklawn Park,

according to Camden’s

Richard Robertson, the colt’s

co-owner.

Nakatani will replace

Kent Desormeaux, who

guided Brown Almighty to

a ninth-place finish in the

$1 million Grade I Breeders’

Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov.

3 at Santa Anita near Los

Angeles.

Trained by Tim Ice,

Brown Almighty will be

making his 3-year-old and

dirt debut in the 1-mile

Smarty Jones, which is

expected to attract a large

field.

Nakatani is now based

in southern California, but

he was Oaklawn’s second

leading rider in 2010.

“Corey wanted to ride

this horse in the Breeders’

Cup, but we had already

given the call,” Robertson

said. “Tim thinks he’s a good

fit for the horse.” Brown Almighty, who

is by champion Big Brown,

races for Tri-Star Racing

LLC (Robertson and Alan

Dean of Camden), Brent

Gasaway of Little Rock and

Joe Denson of Cleveland,

Miss.

Purchased for only

$22,000 in April, Brown

Almighty has earned

$114,000 with a 2-2-0 record

from five starts. His biggest

victory came in the $50,000

Sunny’s Halo Stakes on Aug.

4 at Louisiana Downs.

Also pointing for

the Smarty Jones are

Springboard Mile winner

Texas Bling, Pennsylvania

Nursery winner Officer

Alex and Springboard Mile

runner-up Will Take Charge,

owned by Willis Horton of

Marshall.

Trainer Donnie K.

Von Hemel said Best of

Birdstone, bred and owned

by Richard Hogue of Hope,

is a candidate for the Smarty

Jones.

Oaklawn racing secretary

Pat Pope said it’s too early

to know if the Smarty Jones

will be split because of an

expected rush to the entry

box.

Nominations close

Saturday.

Applauding moved Applauding, trainer Al Stall’s unbeaten 4-yearold filly, left Oaklawn on Wednesday morning for Palm Meadows Training Center in south Florida, where she will join trainer Michael Matz.

Glenn Brookfield, who oversees Stall’s Oaklawn division, said owner Ramona Bass decided to move the filly because of a “disagreement over a few things” with Stall.

“That was beyond unfortunate,” Brookfield said. “It’s a little hard to lose an undefeated filly, but we have had some setbacks and stuff.” Applauding set a 6-furlong track record (1:07.76) at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., in her October 2011 career debut and was a runaway winner of a firstlevel allowance race about six weeks later at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

But because of a serious illness, she didn’t start again until Nov. 21 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Applauding was the headliner of Stall’s Oaklawn string and expected to compete in stakes events at the meeting.

Stall is based at Fair Grounds, but has horses at Oaklawn the first time since 2006 this year.

Final furlong Mezah, an unstarted 3-year-old half-sister to 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Birdand multiple Grade I winner Dullahan, could ship to Oaklawn late in the meeting but isn’t likely to run, according to her trainer, Dan Peitz. Mezah’s racing career has been delayed because of surgery to remove a bone chip from an ankle. ... Gentlemen’s Bet, a winner of his onlycareer start last January, is scheduled to make his 4-year-old debut in Saturday’s seventh race, an entry-level allowance sprint, for owner Harry Rosenblum of Little Rock. ... A field of seven is entered in Saturday’s $60,000 Dixie Belle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 furlongs.

Sports, Pages 17 on 01/10/2013