Kazushi Kimura is likely to remember Sunday, Jan. 15, as that is the day he won his first race at Santa Anita and his first graded stakes in the United States. The milestone earned Kimura Jockey of the Week for Jan. 9 through Jan. 15 by the panel of racing experts. The award honors jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Kimura is coming off his second consecutive riding title at Woodbine Race Course in Toronto, Canada, and is spending the winter at Santa Anita for the first time. He plans to return to Woodbine in the spring.
“Any place where I decide I want to ride, I just need the opportunities, right?” said Kimura.
On Sunday, Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler, gave Kimura just such an opportunity on Kirstenbosch in the Grade 3 La Canada, a 1 1/16-mile test for fillies and mares, 4-years-old and up. Off at odds of 3-1 and breaking from the rail, Kirstenbosch settled off the pace until mid-stretch when she came flying down the center of the track to catch the favorite, Ganadora and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, at the wire.
“She's always a little bit lazy, she always needs like a little bit of pushing her to the wire. At the half mile last time I rode her in the La Brea (Dec. 26), it was a seven furlong race and I was just pushing her to the wire. Today I was more confident to say she would show up better than last time (a third place finish).
“It feels so amazing, my first win here and in a Grade 3, it's amazing,” said Kimura.
“John (Sadler) has given me opportunities since opening day,” said Kimura. “I'm really happy for him and I really appreciate it.”
The win was Kimura's first graded stakes win in the United States.
“He just rode her beautifully, he tried hard until the end,” said assistant trainer Juan Leyva. “He is a really nice kid. I would like to see him really get going because he is so polite and he's a good rider, too. Hopefully this will open up some eyes and he can get a lot more opportunities.”
Kimura, 23, is a native of Hokkaido, Japan, and joined the Woodbine jockey colony in 2018. He was North America's Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey in 2019 and he won the Sovereign Award, the Canadian equivalent, in both 2018 and 2019. He also won the 2021 Sovereign as Canada's outstanding rider.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Alex M. Cruz with a stakes win at Turfway Park, Dylan Davis who won a stakes race at Aqueduct, Jareth Loveberry with a Fair Grounds stakes win, and Luis Saez who won nine races during the week and was the leading rider in total purse earnings.
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