SANTA ANITA : Nakatani Suffers Broken Ankle When Horse Tries to Jump Rail

Corey Nakatani will be sidelined for about eight weeks after suffering a broken right ankle in a spill during the sixth race at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Riding Flying Marfa, a 3-year-old maiden who was making his second start, Nakatani was injured when the gray gelding tried to jump the rail while tiring inside the sixteenth pole.

Nakatani, 23, hit the rail, then bounced off the protective nylon over the drainage ditch inside the rail. A splint was placed on his leg almost immediately, and he was taken to Arcadia Methodist Hospital.

This was the most serious injury suffered by Nakatani, who has been riding since late 1988. He is tied with Chris Antley for fifth in the Santa Anita standings with 53 victories.

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Owners John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery and trainer Paco Gonzalez don’t need to run Bien Bien on the main track anymore.

They found out Saturday that Del Mar Dennis can hold his own against stakes horses on dirt, so Bien Bien, the stable star, can stick to the turf.

Making only his sixth start and second in a stake, Del Mar Dennis, the 4-year-old Dixieland Band gelding, rallied from midpack to beat Hill Pass and six others in the $219,400 San Bernardino Handicap.

Ridden by Sal Gonzalez Jr., Del Mar Dennis was several lengths off of a relatively quick pace, swung wide entering the stretch and got the best of Hill Pass to win by a length in a moderate 1:48 1/5 for the 1 1/8 miles.

Winner of an allowance race on Santa Anita Handicap day, Del Mar Dennis had bled slightly and was treated with Lasix for the first time Saturday. The half-brother to Forty Niner Days, a multiple-stakes winner on turf, had also trained exceptionally well since.

“I knew he was going to run well by the way he was working,” Paco Gonzalez said.

“I told Sal there was a lot of speed in the race. I told him to let him break well and then take him back. This horse is easy to rate now. Before, he was a little rank. He wanted to go to the lead, but now it’s easy to rate him.”

Stuka, winner of the Big ‘Cap after The Wicked North’s disqualification, finished seventh in the San Bernardino. Best when he is outside of horses and off the pace, Stuka moved up along the inside to be third after a half-mile, then faded late. He was ridden by David Flores because of Nakatani’s injury.

Furiously, the 2-1 favorite, was the only horse Stuka beat. He sprinted to the lead under Eddie Delahoussaye but was done before six furlongs had been run.

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Canaveral, unbeaten in three starts, will be heavily favored to win the $200,000 Flamingo Stakes today at Hialeah.

Unraced as a 2-year-old, the son of Relaunch has three consecutive victories at Gulfstream Park, and winning today would earn him a trip to the Kentucky Derby, according to trainer Frank Brothers.

Shane Sellers will ride Canaveral, who beat a field of allowance horses by 8 1/2 lengths in his last start on March 16.

The rest of the Flamingo entrants: Sangre De Toro, Pad, Honest Colors, Signal Tap, Bay Street Star, Meadow Flight, Amathos, Senor Conquistador and Warm Wayne.

Horse Racing Notes

Del Mar Dennis, purchased for $65,000 as a yearling at Keeneland, was named for bloodstock agent Dennis Lynch, who is a friend of McCaffery and Toffan. . . . Flying Marfa, a half-brother to 1992 San Juan Capistrano winner Fly Till Dawn, apparently escaped injury in the sixth race mishap. . . . Antonio Castanon, disqualified from first to third aboard heavily favored Miss Turkana in Thursday’s eighth race, was suspended for five days by the stewards. The suspension begins today. . . . Thirty Slews, who hasn’t run since finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, worked five furlongs in 58 3/5 seconds Saturday morning. . . . Pat Valenzuela was off his six mounts Saturday because of illness.