GOOD FIT GETS GREAT RESULTS.

Byline: Kevin Modesti

ARCADIA - Bob Baffert, the trainer, once told Gary Stevens, the Hall of Fame jockey, that he wished the process of giving instructions to a rider didn't have to end in the saddling paddock. Baffert wished they could keep barking orders as a race unfolded.

Baffert evidently pictured himself scanning the entire field through his binoculars from the box seats, reading the fractional times off the tote board, and acting as kind of a mare-traffic controller.

``I said, `I wish I had a (walkie-talkie) radio on you guys,' '' Baffert recalled. ``Gary said, `If you've got to have a radio, you're definitely using the wrong rider.' ''

The point being that if a jockey doesn't know how to ride his horse before the starting gate springs open, they're both sunk.

Saturday, in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, run for the 63rd time under threatening skies, Corey Nakatani demonstrated the difference the right jockey executing the right game plan can make to a horse. Santa Anita's leading rider showed newcomers in the crowd of 30,122 what racetrack regulars mean by a ``good fit'' between a little man and a powerful beast.

Succeeding again where three previous riders occasionally failed - including two Hall of Famers - Nakatani got the best out of the notoriously flighty 4-year-old General Challenge and won the most history-rich thoroughbred race west of Churchill Downs.

Nakatani and General Challenge won the Big 'Cap by 1 1/4 lengths over Garrett Gomez and Budroyale after briefly being last in the eight-horse race and trailing by 5 3/4 lengths on the backstretch.

``Corey has found his number,'' said John Mabee, the San Diegan who, with his wife Betty, owns General Challenge.

He found it, ironically, by ignoring Baffert's instructions the last time General Challenge raced, which was the first time Nakatani rode him. It was the Strub Stakes, Santa Anita's classic race for 4-year-olds, and Baffert wanted them to be hew close to the early leader, the same plan he'd given to Stevens, Chris McCarron and David Flores.

When General Challenge quickly dropped back to last place, nine lengths off the pace, Baffert thought, ``What's he doing back there?''

What he was doing was discovering a new dimension for the gelding who'd already done some great things (victories in the 1999 Santa Anita Derby and Pacific Classic) but thrown in too many clunkers (11th in the Kentucky Derby, 10th in the Breeders' Cup Classic) to be considered a top-class racehorse.

After General Challenge was slow out of the gate in the Strub, Nakatani decided not to fight him, letting him set his own pace. General Challenge would circle the tiring leaders on the turn and win by 9 1/2 sensational lengths.

``I found the key,'' Nakatani proclaimed.

Three other riders had fumbled through their pockets, hunting for that key, before Baffert put the 29-year-old Nakatani on the case.

``I think Dana Barnes (Baffert's exercise rider) could have won more races on this horse last year than those jockeys did,'' Mabee sniped.

``They were probably listening to me too much,'' Baffert said.

Again Saturday, Nakatani let General Challenge dictate his own tactics.

``He actually called an audible,'' Baffert said. ``This horse relaxes unbelievable for him. For some reason, he feels comfortable with Corey. Corey's going to have to ride him the rest of his life. Corey's a big-race rider. He always shows up.''

Nakatani had finished second in the past three Big 'Caps before winning the marquee race at a track with special significance for his family. His Japanese-American father Roy lived on the backstretch as a child during World War II, when Santa Anita was used as a relocation camp.

Nakatani was washing mud out of his eyes as he walked out of the winner's circle. He'd gone through four pairs of goggles during the race - run on a track rated ``good'' after overnight rain - but some of the dirt spray got through. It bothered the jockey more than the horse.

``His tendency before was that when he got dirt in his face, he threw his head around,'' Nakatani said. ``But he's taken the dirt just fine the two times I've ridden him.''

A jockey must learn his horse's idiosyncrasies. Then he must be an understanding partner, not try to change him.

``I've watched a lot of tapes of Laffit (Pincay), McCarron, (Bill) Shoemaker, and I've learned that they rode the horse the way the horse wanted to be ridden,'' Nakatani said.

It's called a good fit. That's a way of saying teamwork. Today the rest of the circuit is saying break up General Challenge and Corey Nakatani.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: Corey Nakatani may be the perfect jockey for Big 'Cap winner General Challenge, a scary prospect for future opponents.

Michael Haering/Staff Photographer