Stevens replaces Nakatani on Fury Kapcori

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gary Stevens is the new rider for Fury Kapcori, the front-runner whose presence Saturday in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita presents a challenge for likely favorite Game On Dude, a horse with the same style.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer confirmed Tuesday that Stevens will replace Corey Nakatani on Fury Kapcori. Two other Hollendorfer stakes entrants on Saturday also will have rider changes – Joe Talamo rides Sahara Sky in the Grade 1 Triple Bend, Elvis Trujillo will ride Parranda in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine.

“It is no disrespect for Corey or his riding,” Hollendorfer said. “My partners weren’t dissatisfied with the way Corey rode [Fury Kapcori], but he’s ridden him twice and didn’t win, so they wanted to try something different.”

Fury Kapcori set a fast pace under Nakatani and finished second as the 1-2 favorite in his most recent start, which came May 31 in the Grade 2 Californian. Fury Kapcori previously won four straight under Rafael Bejarano.

“If Bejarano was available, we would have ridden him,” Hollendorfer said. “I know the sequence might look funny to some people, but that’s the way the business is.”

Hollendorfer’s first-call rider in Southern California is Bejarano, who was injured in a spill May 10. While Bejarano recovered, Nakatani filled in, winning 6 of 17 for Hollendorfer until a recent 0-for-13 run.

Nakatani was regular rider last year for Hollendorfer-trained 2-year-old champion Shared Belief, nominated to the $500,000 Los Alamitos Derby on July 5.

“The decision has not been made 100 percent to run in that race,” Hollendorfer said Tuesday. “When we get to that point, we’ll consider what rider for that horse.”

In naming Talamo on Triple Bend contender Sahara Sky, Hollendorfer is going back to what has worked.

“Talamo has won Sahara Sky twice,” Hollendorfer said. “I haven’t ridden Talamo in a long time, and wanted to see if I could get him riding a couple horses for us once again.”

Talamo, leading rider at the Santa Anita meet, rode Sahara Sky to victory in 2013 Grade 2 San Carlos but has ridden only one horse for Hollendorfer the past 15 months.

Trujillo won twice on Parranda in Florida before she was transferred to Hollendorfer in California. In her most recent start, Parranda and Nakatani finished third as the favorite in the Grade 1 Gamely on May 26.

“Once again, nothing against Corey, we’re just trying something different,” Hollendorfer said.