Jockey agent Lawson has French connection

DEL MAR, Calif. – Derek Lawson has been a jockey agent for most of the past 30 years, but he’s having his greatest success representing Flavien Prat, who is tied atop the jockeys’ standings with nine wins after two weeks of the Del Mar meet.

Lawson, 61, often has represented riders from France, like Prat, because of his ability to speak fluent French. Lawson was born in New York, but moved as a youth to the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, and the name Lawson isn’t French, so what’s the French connection?

“My mother was French,” Lawson said. “I spoke French before I spoke English.”

Lawson went to Notre Dame High School, worked as a sports information director at Valley College, and for years was a high-school football stringer for the Valley and then Daily News. When Hollywood Park had its first fall meeting in 1981, Lawson was hired to work in the publicity department, and he learned what agents do.

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Over the years, he has worked for Fernando Toro and Rafael Meza, and had a long association with Eric Saint-Martin. Lawson first got to know Prat five years ago, when the jockey came here for a few months in the winter on a work visa. They kept in touch over the years, with Prat last December deciding to relocate from France and ride here.

◗ Mike Smith will be out of town both Saturday and Sunday. He rides Iron Fist in the West Virginia Derby on Saturday, and Competitive Edge in the Haskell on Sunday.

◗ Jockeys James Graham ($300), Brice Blanc ($200), and Corey Nakatani ($200) were all fined by Del Mar’s stewards for violation of the whip rule that went into effect a month ago. The rule sanctions riders who whip a horse more than three times in succession without letting the horse respond. Graham’s fine was higher because it was his second offense.

◗ Nakatani and apprentice Brayan Pena were fined $500 each for failing to report their proper riding weight before races last week.