Nakatani gets honor at Japanese festival

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Corey Nakatani was the parade marshal Sunday in Los Angeles for the 2017 Nisei Week Japanese Festival, a prestigious honor made all the more poignant by the fact that Nakatani’s late father, Roy, was housed at Santa Anita as a youth during World War II when the track was temporarily used as a relocation facility for Japanese Americans.

Nakatani did not ride Sunday because of the commitment.

◗ On Saturday, Nakatani’s mount in the Del Mar Oaks, Pacific Wind, was disqualified for interference, an incident that resulted in Nakatani getting a five-day suspension from the stewards. That suspension begins Saturday.

◗ Jockey Rafael Bejarano will sit out three days, beginning this Saturday, for a careless riding suspension issued following the disqualification of his mount Aussie Fox in the fifth race Saturday.

◗ Danzing Candy completed his preparation for Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes with a half-mile drill in 47.60 seconds Monday morning for trainer Bob Baffert.

◗ Champagne Room, last year’s champion 2-year-old filly, continued to progress toward a return to action with a five-furlong work in 1:00.80 on Monday morning for trainer Pete Eurton. She went so easily that clockers labeled the move breezing.