Kimura, Hernandez at top of jockey standings

Kazushi Kimura can easily relate to the lengthy recovery fellow jockey Umberto Rispoli faces from ankle and leg injuries sustained at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 24. A year ago at this time, Kimura was in the midst of an absence of more than two months caused by a leg injury suffered in the starting gate at Santa Anita.

Through Sunday, the most recent day of racing at Santa Anita, Kimura was tied for the lead in the jockey standings with Juan Hernandez with 19 wins. Last Friday, the pair overtook Rispoli, who led the standings for much of January.

For Kimura, staying at the top will not be easy. Hernandez won five consecutive riding titles at Del Mar from the summer of 2023 through last summer, and he won seven consecutive riding titles at Santa Anita from the winter of 2022-2023 through the winter-spring meeting in 2024-2025.

Hernandez “always has a live shot with every mount,” Kimura said on Sunday between races. To challenge Hernandez, “you have to keep being consistent and win five or six every week,” Kimura added.

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Hernandez’s grip on riding titles at Del Mar and Santa Anita has weakened slightly in the last year. Antonio Fresu led the 2025 Santa Anita spring meeting, while Rispoli led all riders at the Del Mar fall meeting. Hernandez won the 2025 Santa Anita fall meeting.

Fresu returns from a toe injury on Saturday, his first mounts since Dec. 28. No timeline has been set on Rispoli’s recovery.

Last week at Santa Anita, Hernandez won six races, one more than Kimura.

This winter, Kimura has benefited from alignments with trainers Bob Baffert, Michael McCarthy, and Tim Yakteen. Kimura has won three times for Baffert, including a maiden win aboard the 3-year-old Potente, a $2.4 million yearling purchase, last Saturday.

Kimura has won four races for McCarthy, including the Eddie Logan Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf with Stark Contrast on Jan. 8. For Yakteen, Kimura has three wins, beginning with a maiden race for 2-year-olds on Dec. 28 with Secured Freedom.

On Saturday, Kimura is set to ride Secured Freedom in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile, a prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4 and the Triple Crown later in the spring. Secured Freedom is one of 20 mounts for Kimura from Friday through Sunday, a weekend with three nine-race programs. Hernandez has 17 mounts, including all six stakes on Saturday and Sunday.

Kimura has mounts in five of the six stakes on Saturday and Sunday, including two rides for McCarthy on Saturday – Simply Joking in the Grade 2 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs and Lord Bullingdon in the Grade Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf.

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Kimura, who works with jockey’s agent Brian Beach, knows he must consistently win on a weekly basis to keep pace with Hernandez and other riders and have a chance at the riding title at the winter-spring meeting that ends on April 5.

The Santa Anita jockey’s room is changing. Florent Geroux begins riding at Santa Anita on Friday. Fresu returns on Saturday. Competition for leading mounts will not be easy.

“In this business, you have to be always flexible no matter what,” Kimura said. “We have to be prepared for whatever happens. We always have a good plan to have good momentum. It’s good teamwork with Brian Beach.”

Kimura, 26, won Sovereign Awards as Canada’s leading rider from 2021 to 2023. A full-time move to California in 2025 was designed to contend for the title of leading rider and gain mounts for the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup. Last fall, Kimura rode Stark Contrast to a second-place finish in the BC Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.

“Canada is a good place, good prize money, and a lovely community,” Kimura said. “If we want to win the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup, it’s difficult to happen from Canada. Maybe you have a chance once or twice in 10 or 20 years. Every year, we need that consistent opportunity. It will be better to stay in California.”

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