Nakatani will try Oaklawn

Jockey Corey Nakatani, a Southern California mainstay who has not ridden since Oct. 15, is changing circuits and will be riding at the Oaklawn Park meet that opens on Jan. 15, said Jay Fedor, who will be his agent. Following the Arkansas season, Nakatani plans to ride in Kentucky.

Nakatani, 39, said last month that he had been battling a sore back. At the time, he said he was unsure whether he would return to riding and that he planned to do some commentating for TVG. Nakatani did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday. Fedor said Nakatani is due to arrive at Oaklawn about Jan. 5.

"Wayne Catalano orchestrated this," Fedor said of the trainer who won last month's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita with She Be Wild. "We've been great friends, and he and Corey are friends, and he saw an opportunity for me and for Corey."

Nakatani, who first began riding in Southern California in 1989, has won seven Breeders' Cup races.

Fedor also represents Chris Emigh, who has been out with a hairline crack in his collarbone but is to return in mid-December with plans to ride the meet at Oaklawn.