Saratoga 2024: Nakatomi breaks through in Vanderbilt

With a determined stride down the stretch, 5-year-old gelding Nakatomi finally broke through in his 11th graded-stakes try, taking the lead in mid-stretch en route to a 1 1/2-length victory Saturday in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, a six-furlong sprint handicap for open company at Saratoga.

Tyler Gaffalione rode a stalking second before making his move in the turn. Nakatomi (7-2), the fourth betting choice in the field of six, gradually wore down pacesetter and post-time favorite Skelly (1-1), who established early fractions of 22.20 and 44.95 seconds.

Click here for Saratoga entries and results.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Nakatomi won with a time of 1:09.97 on the fast main track. Skelly held on for second, Twisted Ride (34-1) was another three-quarters of a length back in third, and Baby Yoda (3-1) took fourth. My Buddy B (31-1) and Subrogate (2-1) completed the finish in that order. 

Nakatomi returned $9.30, $3.90 and $3.00; Skelly $2.70 and $2.50; and Twisted Ride $5.60.

It was the first Vanderbilt win for Ward, Gaffalione and owners Qatar Racing and Fitriani Hay. Nakatomi came into the race off a nearly four-month break since his third-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1).

The son of Firing Line, Nakatomi cost $205,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton July sale of horses of racing age. He ran his record to 17: 5-2-6 and, with the $192,500 first-place money, pushed his career earnings to $1,153,776.