Del Mar: Nakatani takes off mounts with sore shoulder

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Corey Nakatani, who aggravated a shoulder injury when pulling up an injured horse on Monday, took off his mounts on closing day Wednesday at Del Mar after working horses that morning.

“He’s better, but he’s not 100 percent, and he didn’t think he’d be doing his horses justice today,” his agent, Brian Beach, said Wednesday morning. “He thinks it’s best to let it cool down. He was going to ride on Saturday at Fairplex, but he’s going to take that day off, too, so the next day he’ll ride is on Sept. 15 at Belmont Park.”

Nakatani is scheduled to ride Open Water for trainer Eric Guillot in the Garden City at Belmont Park on Sept. 15, Beach said.

Once Del Mar ends, many of the top riders on this circuit, such as Nakatani, only ride weekends during the 2 1/2 weeks while Fairplex is running.