Barraza might act the clown around the barn but he's all business on the track, where he's won his last three races and seeks his first black type triumph Feb. 20 in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.
“He's doing really well,” said Vladimir Cerin, who conditions the Into Mischief colt for longtime clients Holly and David Wilson. “He's happy and kind of like a young puppy.”
Claimed last April 11 for $100,000 from Bob Baffert and Spendthrift Farm LLC who bred the bay colt, Barraza won the restricted Clockers' Corner Jan. 22 by 2 ¼ lengths leading throughout, prior to capturing two overnight turf sprints coming from well off the pace.
Whatever running style he employs, Barraza is enjoying life.
“Everything is playful to him,” Cerin said. “It's like he's really not in the racehorse business; he's in the 'having fun' business.”
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