Kimura opens a new door at Old Del Mar

Kazushi Kimura had only been a professional rider for two weeks when he stepped into the starting gate for his second race at Honeysuckle June 9, 2018, on board claim for $9,500 in damages Tornado Cat for trainer and co-owner/breeder Shelley Fitzgerald.

Kimura is 18, Tornado Cat is 5. She jumped into the air at the start, then Kimura sat quietly at the back of the pack, moved into the middle of the pack on the far turn, then glided over the barrier on the straight to win by three-quarters of a length at odds of 70-1.

The teenager from Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s major islands, returned to the victory circle with a big smile, fully expecting the traditional welcome from the other jockeys to celebrate her maiden win. Instead, they were on their best behavior, lining up neatly behind Emma-Jayne Wilson, who was being presented with the track’s prestigious Avelino Gomez Award. It was Kimura, second row right, who dodged the whipped cream, raw eggs and buckets of ice.

History has been kind to both riders that day. Wilson has continued her success in her native Canada, now approaching 2,000 wins and a record $90.2 million in prize money for a female rider. Kimura has followed that stunning first performance with 887 more points, three Canadian Sovereigns and an Eclipse as the 2019 Trainee of the Year.

For the past two years, Kimura has spent his winters out West, testing his mettle at Santa Anita Parkwaters during Woodbine’s break. This summer, however, the racer defied the odds, making his Canadian debut less than three months into his long season at Del MarHis motives were simple and to the point.

“I’m only 24 years old, I want to race against the best riders, hopefully find a horse for the Breeders’ Cup and a new challenge,” he shared a few days before the opening ceremony on July 20.

As an independent professional athlete, unbound by family, schedule or contract, Kimura sees the world as his own.

“I went to a racecourse in Japan from the age of 14 to 16,” Kimura said. “I took the exam twice to get in. In my year, there were 151 applicants and only five people passed. But horse racing in Japan is very strict. It’s very difficult to get a license.”

Kimura describes the Japanese horse racing scene as a tightly controlled environment where both access and opportunity are difficult. He researched and settled in eastern Canada as a place where his passion for horse racing could be unleashed.

“When I left Japan, my friends wondered why,” he said. “I didn’t speak English. I had very little money. It was lonely. But people there treated me very well, and everything went very smoothly in Canada, very simply. My family was more surprised than I was.”

Kimura began his riding career at his family’s farm near the town of Hidaka, on the southern coast of Hokkaido, a short drive from the heart of Japan’s Thoroughbred country. His father, Tadayuki Kimura, prepared 2-year-old horses for a clientele of owner-trainers. Kazushi was riding at age 3, then graduated to show jumping and racing as he got older.

Now he’s a lean, naturally lean guy who’s found a local gym to keep him busy during the three dark days of Del Mar race week. That is, when he’s not enjoying the summer fun at Petco Park, the San Diego Zoo and a 30-mile stretch of gorgeous beach.

Now in his seventh year of competing, Kimura has bucked the trend of many Eclipse Award-winning apprentices who find the transition to full-time rider status a challenge. Kimura has wisely built up some notoriety in Canada before seeking new horizons. But he has a home there. He has applied for permanent residency, and he plans to return to Canada for a chance at the big prizes after the Del Mar meet concludes in September.

“I’m still learning,” Kimura says. “I watch other riders to see what they do well—how they break, how they finish—and see if what they do technically works for me. In Japan, the riding style is more European. They settle the horse early and focus on the finish. Some riders even jump on the saddle. They learn this because some tracks are uphill at the end, and that can help the horse move forward.”

Kimura’s style, however, is very American. In California, he also enjoys the change from the underhand whipping rules used in Canada, although tracks under the jurisdiction of the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority are more stringent when it comes to rider health protocols. Kimura suffered a concussion in a fall at Woodbine a year ago.

“I’ve been lucky so far,” he said. “I’ve never been out for more than two weeks.”

Who knows what might have happened to the rider on June 30, 2019, in the middle of his Eclipse Award-winning season when his horse slipped on the back straight of a sprint at Woodbine. The horse wobbled but kept its footing, while Kimura found himself hanging by the right side of the horse’s neck, both irons missing for more than a dozen paces. Somehow, he pulled himself back into the saddle, regained his stirrups and finished the race.

With veteran agent Brian Beach at the helm, Kimura is expected to be in contention for the riding title at Del Mar, surrounded by veterans Juan Hernandez, Victor Espinoza, Umberto Rispoli, Antonio Fresu, Tyler Baze and Kyle Frey. And while not a regular on the track, Kimura is a household name. He won 16 races to finish in the top 10 at the Santa Anita in April, then returned from Canada in late May to win the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G2). Mr. Fisk for Bob Baffert.

Kimura has 17 call-ups for a dozen different trainers on opening weekend, riding for owners such as Coolmore, Eclipse Thoroughbreds, Mike Pegram, Ramona Bass and heavyweight investor group SF Racing/Starlight Racing. For Saturday’s featured San Clemente Stakes (G2T), Kimura will ride the mare Irish Lottery for Phil D’Amato’s barn. Daughter of Ten Kings who has never finished worse than third in five starts, finished second in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes last fall and won his first at Santa Anita in late May.