Nakatomi punches ticket to Breeders’ Cup with repeat in Phoenix Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Now he’s got the hang of it.

Second in the 2023 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland as a 4-year-old, second again in 2024 at age 5, Nakatomi on Friday won the Phoenix for the second year in a row with a sparkling rail rally under Irad Ortiz Jr.

Seven-year-old Nakatomi’s second Phoenix was Ortiz’s first win since a pre-race ankle injury Aug. 8 at Saratoga sidelined him for nearly two months. Friday marked Ortiz’s first day back race-riding.

Nakatomi won last year’s renewal by a neck. On a gray Friday, low clouds and drizzle enveloping the opening-day crowd at Keeneland, Nakatomi captured the Grade 2, $368,238 Phoenix by one length. Little Thunder was up by a nose over third-place Mad House, who laid down fast fractions – 21.67 seconds and 44.68 – while pressed by Booth, who held fourth.

Nakatomi clocked 1:09.63 over a fast track and paid $6.64 as the second choice behind Verifire, who finished seventh.

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The six-furlong Phoenix was hit hard by scratches: Grade 1 Forego winner Hymn, sharp Florida shipper Viking, and C K’s Wonder all were listed as stakes scratches, leaving a field of eight.

The Phoenix is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and Wesley Ward, who trains Nakatomi out of his farm just across Rice Road from Keeneland, sees no reason not to accept an automatic fees-paid berth into the Sprint. Nakatomi has finished third, sixth, and ninth in three BC Sprint appearances.

The gelding, by Firing Line out of Appleicious, by Flatter, is a tank of a horse, robust and willing at an advanced age.

“He loves Keeneland. This is his home,” said Ward, who trains Nakatomi for Qatar Racing and Mrs. Fitriani Hay. “We’re just excited to have an old guy run as good as he has.”

Nakatomi finished fifth March 28 in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, got a nice break after coming back to America, and Ward found an Aug. 22 allowance race at Saratoga in which to prep Nakatomi. Worked like a charm.

Ortiz rode Nakatomi to his 2025 Phoenix win and knew what to expect.

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“I won on him last time, and it was the same thing here,” he said. “He wasn’t breaking so good in races like this, so I just let him be him and see how he figures it out.”

Nakatomi began gaining partway around the far turn, and at the five-sixteenths pole, Ortiz chose to steer inside rather than out. Ward, used to watching Nakatomi rally outside, wondered what was up.

“I was wondering what he was doing going inside. He said, ‘I know the horse,’ ” Ward said.

Nakatomi still had plenty of work to do at the sixteenth pole. He rolled past the leaders with 50 yards to go and won a second Phoenix.

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