Four races, four different riders for Ollie's Candy

DEL MAR, Calif. - The 3-year-old filly Ollie’s Candy will have her fourth different jockey in as many races in Saturday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks.

Tyler Baze will replace an injured Corey Nakatani on a filly considered a leading contender in the $300,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on turf. The jockey change was necessitated when Nakatani sustained a back injury in a two-horse spill on Aug. 4.

The veteran Nakatani protested to doctors when told he needed to recuperate, the jockey’s son and agent, Matt Nakatani, told trainer William Morey.

“The doctor said he needed time and he said, ‘I’ve got a filly to ride in the Oaks,’ ” Morey recalled on Sunday.

“His heart is in it, but his body isn’t.”

It is understandable why Nakatani wanted to retain the mount on Ollie’s Candy, who races for breeders Paul and Karen Eggert. Ollie’s Candy has won 3 of 4 starts and earned $191,800.

Nakatani rode Ollie’s Candy for the first time in the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile on turf on July 21. Ollie’s Candy closed from ninth in a field of 13 to finish a neck behind War Heroine, who has since been sidelined with injury.

The longer distance of the Del Mar Oaks should suit Ollie’s Candy, considering the way she closed in the San Clemente.

The Del Mar Oaks is expected to have a field of at least nine. The other candidates are Animosity, Colonia, Fatale Bere, Got Stormy, Ms Bad Behavior, Paved, So Hi Society, and Toinette.

Paved won the Grade 2 Honeymoon Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on June 9, and was eighth of 10 in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at 1 1/4 miles on July 7.

On Sunday, Baze was aboard Ollie’s Candy for the first time in a five-furlong workout in 1:01.80.

“She’s never been a super-work filly,” Morey said. “She saves it for when it counts.”