Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

High-Priced Cezanne Leaves Big Impression In Kona Gold

Purchased for a whopping $3,650,000 at age two and idle since Aug. 1, Bob Baffert's Cezanne came back to the races in a massive way on Sunday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as he rallied into a blistering pace and came away with a 9 ¾-length victory over odds-on favorite Brickyard Ride. With leading man Flavien Prat picking up his fourth win on the day and his second stakes score, Cezanne, a 4-year-old colt by Curlin, smoked home in 1:14.71 for 6 ½ furlongs.

Taken in-hand out of the gate while stablemate Ax Man chased Brickyard Ride, Cezanne was next to last in a field of four at the rail and moved into contention around the far turn while well within himself. With Prat sitting motionless to the five sixteenths pole, Cezanne fairly sailed by Brickyard Ride turning for home and won in sensational fashion as Baffert picked up his second win on the day.

“It worked out well,” said Prat, who has now ridden Cezanne in all four of his starts, winning three times. “We had a fast pace in front of us and we were able to save ground. He gave me a good kick when I asked him. He ran really nice.”

Fourth in the two turn Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar Aug. 1, Cezanne, in his second career stakes assignment, was the second choice at 9-5 and paid $5.80 and $2.40 with no show wagering.

“We knew there was going to be a hot pace,” said Jimmy Barnes, assistant to Baffert, who also collected his fourth Kona Gold win today. “Not sure how fast, but it ended up being fast, and you know Cezanne just ate them up. (Prat) gave him a wonderful ride and Bob had him ready…With the races coming up this spring and summer, we should be looking really good with Cezanne.”

Owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and St. Elias Stable, Cezanne, who is out of the Bernardini mare Achieving, now has three wins from four starts and with the winner's take of $60,000, increased his earnings to $123,000.

Brickyard Ride, who set similarly fast splits in winning the Grade II, seven furlong San Carlos Stakes here on March 6, was unable to notch his third consecutive stakes win, but stayed gamely for the place, finishing 1 ¼ lengths better than Fight On, while Ax Man checked in last.

Ridden by Alexis Centeno, Brickyard Ride, the lone Cal-bred in the field of four 3-year-olds and up was off at 3-5 and paid $2.20 to show.

Fraction on the race were 21.18, 43.60 and 1:08.27.

With a training double, Baffert has 32 wins through 50 racing days, two better than Phil D'Amato. Prat, who also won the Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup earlier with Tizamagician, now has 89 wins, 38 clear of Juan Hernandez. Prat's 16 stakes wins put him six in front of Umberto Rispoli.

Racing resumes with first post time for a nine-race card on Friday at 1 p.m.

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Pricey Cezanne Wins Big in Return to the Races

Cezanne (Curlin), who topped the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale in 2019 at $3.65 million, stamped himself as one to watch for this year with a dominant victory in Santa Anita's GIII Kona Gold S. Sunday evening. A debut winner going this same 6 1/2 furlongs last June, the Coolmore partners and St. Elias Stable representative doubled up going a mile at Los Alamitos in July. He was most recently fourth in Del Mar's Aug. 1 Shared Belief S. behind million-dollar stablemate Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) and $850,000 GISW Honor A. P. (Honor Code). The hulking bay had been working very quickly for this, and was off as the 9-5 second choice in a field of four behind last-out GII San Carlos S. hero Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride).

Away cleanly but last from the rail, Cezanne sat third some

10 lengths behind the fleet-footed Brickyard Ride as that foe zipped through splits of :21.18 and :43.60 with Cezanne's stablemate Ax Man (Misremembered) applying pressure. Cezanne cruised ominously closer heading for home as the pacesetter was clearly feeling his early exertions. Brickyard Ride came well off the fence entering the lane, and Cezanne cut the corner and seized the lead before running up the score to 9 3/4 lengths. Brickyard Ride held second over Fight On (Into Mischief).

“It worked out well,” said rider Flavien Prat. “We had a fast pace in front of us and we were able to save ground. He gave me a good kick when I asked him. He ran really nice.”

Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, added, “We knew there was going to be a hot pace. Not sure how fast, but it ended up being fast, and you know Cezanne just ate them up. [Prat] gave him a wonderful ride and Bob had him ready… With the races coming up this spring and summer, we should be looking really good with Cezanne.”

Sunday, Santa Anita
KONA GOLD S.-GIII, $98,000, Santa Anita, 4-18, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:14.71, ft.
1–CEZANNE, 122, c, 4, by Curlin
          1st Dam: Achieving, by Bernardini
          2nd Dam: Teeming, by Storm Cat
          3rd Dam: Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($3,650,000
2yo '19 FTFMAR). O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick
Smith & St Elias Stable; B-Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. &
St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $123,000. *1/2 to
Counterforce (Smart Strike), SW, $323,708; and Arabian
Hope (Distorted Humor), GSW-Tur, SW & G1SP-Eng, $227,783.
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating:
   A+++ *Triple Plus*.
2–Brickyard Ride, 126, c, 4, Clubhouse Ride–Brickyard Helen,
by Southern Image. O/B-Alfred A. Pais (CA); T-Craig Anthony
Lewis. $20,000.
3–Fight On, 124, h, 6, Into Mischief–Havenlass, by Elusive
Quality. ($340,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP). O-C T R Stables LLC
(Calvert) & Westside Racing Stable; B-Haymarket Farm LLC
(KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $12,000.
Margins: 9 3/4, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 1.90, 0.60, 20.90.
Also Ran: Ax Man. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Cezanne was a :10 flat breezer at Gulfstream. Coolmore's M.V. Magnier was also involved in the acquisition of three of the next five lots. With the auction having been cancelled last year due to the pandemic, representatives of Coolmore bought two colts at last month's sale–the $2.6-million Nyquist topper and $1.3-million Uncle Mo third topper.

Pedigree Notes:
Cezanne is the 70th stakes winner, 40th graded, for super sire Curlin–who was also responsible earlier on the card for dominant Baffert-trained firster Curvette. Cezanne is bred on a potent cross also responsible for last year's GI Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights and leading 2021 GI Kentucky Oaks contender Clairiere.

Bernardini sits at 11th on the broodmare sire list for 2021 with significantly fewer mares than the majority of older counterparts above him. His ever-growing list of stakes winners as a broodmare sire sits at 49 (28 graded), and includes this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. hero Colonel Liam (Liam's Map).

The winner's dam Achieving is a great granddaughter of Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour. Achieving produced a full sister to Curlin in 2019. Vinnie Viola's St. Elias has had serious success with sons of Curlin, including GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Vino Rosso and this year's GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Known Agenda, who is GI Kentucky Derby bound.

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Curlin Debutante Runs to the Money at Santa Anita

2nd-Santa Anita, $61,000, Msw, 4-18, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:16.86, ft, 5 1/2 lengths.
CURVETTE (f, 3, Curlin–Fiftyshadesofhay {MGSW & MGISP, $1,097,951}, by Pulpit) was bet like a good thing for her debut Sunday at Santa Anita and ran to the money with an open-length score for Bob Baffert. Showing an upbeat local worktab capped by a five-furlong spin in 1:00 flat (9/64) Apr. 11, the Stonestreet homebred broke cleanly as the 6-5 favorite. Tracking barnmate Reem (Danza) from a close second through a :22.07 quarter, the bay turned up the heat on that rival in hand past a :45.27 half and drew on even terms heading for home. Drifting in outside the furlong grounds, she took charge soon after straightening out and kicked clear despite staying on her left lead for a 5 1/2-length success. Reem held for second. The winner's dam, bought by Stonestreet for $1.4 million at Keeneland November in 2014, has a yearling Medaglia d'Oro filly and produced a colt by Ghostzapper Mar. 29. Sales History: $95,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $36,600. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.

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Brazilian-Bred Royal Ship Overtakes Country Grammer In Californian

In what soon developed into a match race, Richard Mandella's Royal Ship out-gamed Bob Baffert's Country Grammer by a neck following a thrilling stretch duel in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden by Mike Smith, Brazilian-bred Royal Ship got 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.47 and will now be pointed to the G1, $400,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on May 31.

Idle since running fifth in the G1 Travers Stakes Aug. 8 at Saratoga, Country Grammer was sent from his number three post position while Royal Ship, who had been well off the pace in his four stateside starts for Mandella, was hustled out of the gate and sat a close second early while applying considerable pressure to the front-runner.

A half length back at the three furlong pole, Royal Ship got on terms with Country Grammer a quarter mile out and from there, it was “game-on,” as 3-5 favorite Independence Hall, who sat third throughout, was never a factor.

“Yes, we wanted to be closer today,” said Mandella, who had tried Royal Ship in four graded stakes dating back to Aug. 23, with three of them on turf. “He's fast enough, we didn't need him back off the pace and getting into trouble again. He's always trained well on dirt and the only time we ran him on it, he fell on his face leaving the gate (in the G3 Native Diver on Nov. 21). We didn't have a grass race to point for, so this looked like a good spot.

“We'll run in the Gold Cup next.”

Most recently a fast finishing fifth, beaten one length in the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf March 6, Royal Ship was off at 5-1 in a field of five 3-year-olds and up and paid $13.40, $5.80 and $2.60.

“He really fought hard today,” said Smith, who has ridden him in all of his races with Mandella. “I've been very unlucky leaving the gate with him on several different occasions. We ran him on the dirt (at Del Mar) and ran fourth. It seems like every time I get something going my way, something pushes me back two steps and today, finally everything went our way.”

A 5-year-old gelding by Midshipman, Royal Ship is owned by Fox Hill Farms, Inc. and Siena Farm, LLC. A Group 1 and Group 3 stakes winner on grass in Brazil, the Californian marks his first win in three career tries on dirt and his first win in five graded stakes assignments for Mandella. The winner's share of $120,000 increases his earnings to $203,305 from an overall mark of 12-6-1-2.

Ridden by Abel Cedillo, Country Grammer, who won the G3 Peter Pan Stakes for trainer Chad Brown two starts back on July 16 at Saratoga, was making his first start for Baffert and ran a huge race in defeat, finishing 9 ½ lengths in front of Independence Hall.

The second choice at 7-2, Country Grammer paid $5.00 and $2.10.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Independence Hall, who paid $2.10 to show, demonstrated his customary tactical speed, but the top two got away from him around the far turn and he had to settle for third money, finishing 14 lengths ahead of Magic On Tap.

Fractions on the race were 23.23, 46.98, 1:10.67 and 1:35.39.

Hall of Famer Mandella collected his fourth career win in the Californian, while fellow Hall of Famer Smith, who took the prestigious prep to the Hollywood Gold Cup in 1995 aboard eastern-based Concern, notched his second Californian win.

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