Nakamura wins Navan’s opening Nursery First-time blinkered Nakamura (5s — 4/1f) registered a maiden success in Navan’s opening Navan Racecourse Nursery today, making much of the running to score for jockey Ben Coen, trainer Johnny Murtagh and the Brunabonne Syndicate. The gelded son of Kodi Bear had previously finished third at the Galway festival in July and today led from halfway when eventually scoring by two lengths from Monte Vista. Jockey Coen, who won Leopardstown’s Listed Vinnie Roe Stakes for Murtagh last Thursday, commented "dropping back in trip helped Nakamura and I'd say he ran into an improver of Joseph's (O'Brien, Which Wolf Wins) the last day at Galway. The little bit of juice in the ground helped, he did things nicely and the blinkers helped him sharpen up as well. "He was tough (when challenged) and, to be fair, he's an improver so hopefully this can be his time of year." Quotes from Michael Graham
