LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — If you’re making a list of the most famous kickers from the University of Louisville football program, where do you begin?
Probably with Art Carmody or David Akers. They were as clutch as it gets. I’d add Klaus Wilmsmeyer to the list, but his best work came as a punter.
As the roar of Kentucky Derby Week unfolds, it’s the perfect time to introduce you to another former Cardinals’ kicker. A guy who was a member of a Louisville team that won the 2013 Sugar Bowl.
One with roots at Shelby County High School. Whose father is a retired Hall of Fame jockey who rode in 18 Kentucky Derbies.
A determined former walk-on for coach Charlie Strong, who excelled in the limited opportunities he got, making all six of his extra points and two of three field goals over five seasons with the Cardinals.
A guy that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater presciently nicknamed “Agent,” when he kicked for the Cards and who remembers Will Stein as his holder.
Welcome back, Matt Nakatani.
He’s the agent for Umberto Rispoli, the jockey who will ride Derby favorite Journalism.
“This is home for me,” Nakatani said Sunday morning after Journalism completed his final work at Churchill Downs. “I have a lot of family here. I have a lot of friends here.
“I know that 12 years ago when I graduated from Louisville after spending nearly every day, right across the street at that (L&N Cardinal) stadium, never could I imagine that I’d be here today.”
But here he is, chasing a victory in a race that his father, Corey, could not win in 18 tries. Scrambling to make certain that Rispoli is everywhere that the jockey needs to be during a week that begins as frantic and ends as beyond crazed.
On Saturday Nakatani said he was on the telephone for more than five consecutive hours. He started his day driving to the Cincinnati airport to meet Rispoli, who was arriving on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles around 5 a.m.
The flight actually arrived early. Rispoli had Nakatani at Barn 35 in time to work Journalism for trainer Michael McCarthy at 7:15 a.m.
But McCarthy did not like the condition of the track. Journalism did not work. Nakatani put Rispoli back in the car for the quick trip to Muhammad Ali International for the first leg of a return trip to Burbank, California so Rispoli could ride horses at Santa Anita Saturday afternoon.
He made the 8:20 flight from Louisville to Atlanta. But trouble arrived in Georgia. Rispoli’s next flight to Salt Lake City was delayed. So Nakatani worked the phones, determined to find Rispoli another way to an airport in the Los Angeles area.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Not happening.
Journalism was scheduled for a critical final pre-Derby work Sunday at 7:15 a.m. If Rispoli made it to California there were already plans to fly him back to Louisville on a private plane late Saturday night.
Scrap them. Scrap all of them.
He got Rispoli back to Louisville, picking him up at the airport before 5 p.m.
All good?
Not yet.
Rispoli did not pack for an overnight trip. All he traveled with were his workout clothes and jockey equipment. He wanted to attend the post position Saturday night at Churchill Downs.
Nakatani had it covered. He drove the jockey to the mall, purchased a shirt, a sweater, a pair of pants and shoes. They even shared a quick dinner at Capital Grille before returning to the track.
On Sunday morning, Nakatani brought Rispoli back to the track. The work went precisely the way McCarty scripted it.
And by 9:30 a.m. Nakatani had Rispoli back at the airport. He tried another airline that sent the jockey through Houston on his way to Los Angeles where Rispoli planned to ride Sunday afternoon.
A native of Italy, Rispoli moved from Europe to the United States several years ago. He did not begin with Nakatani as his agent. But today he credits his agent with helping him become one of the top jockeys on the California circuit, as well as one of the stars in the six-part series on Netflix, Race for the Crown.
“One day Matt came up and said, ‘I would really like to work with you,’" Rispoli said. “And I could see it in his eyes that he was a guy who was young and he was hungry.
“That’s what you need. It’s a tough business … my kids, they love him. They probably love him more than me.”
And Nakatani loves what he does. The was not the course that Nakatani expected his career to take when he graduated from U of L in 2014. He was accepted to law school at the University of California-Irvine. He had dreams of representing football players, transitioning from college to the NFL.
“I remember Teddy Bridgewater used to call me ‘Agent,’ “ Nakatani said. “Like, ‘Hey, agent, what are we doing now?’ So it kind of got to be my mindset.”
Nakatani never got to law school. Instead, he started representing his father, who won won more than 3,900 races. Corey Nakatani retired in 2019, a year after he suffered multiple fractures and injuries to his back in an accident at Del Mar Racetrack near San Diego.
Nakatani worked with several other riders before teaming with Rispoli in 2023. In 2024, Rispoli finished 20th nationally in earnings, riding 119 winners for more than $10 million.
He’s 20th again this year with a terrific percentages -- 22% winners and 54% in the money. Rispoli has won 42 races for nearly $3 million — with a chance to double that number Saturday.
“The sky’s the limit,” Nakatani said. “In this business, we’re always looking for the next big horse. So that’s basically my time, 24/7, studying horses and trying to find as many rides for (Rispoli) as possible.”
And rebooking as many flights as necessary to get there.
Other sports stories:
THE DRAW | Journalism the 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby, draws Post No. 8
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Post Positions: The Kentucky Derby's luckiest and unluckiest spots
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