Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Finite Ships West To Take On Merneith In La Brea

In what appears to be a wide-open affair at seven furlongs, Steve Asmussen-trained Finite and Bob Baffert trainee Merneith head a field of 11 sophomore fillies in the Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea Stakes, one of five graded events on Santa Anita's Winter/Spring opening day this Saturday, Dec. 26.

A winner of the G3 Chilukki Stakes going a one turn mile at Churchill Downs Nov. 21, Finite is a three-time graded stakes winner who seeks her seventh win in what will be her 12th career start.

A winner of her last two starts, Merneith, a daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, seeks her third consecutive win and her first graded stakes win.

FINITE

Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds, LLC, Thomas Reiman, William Dickson & Deborah Easter

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Fresh off a rousing 2 ½ length win going a one turn mile in the G3 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs Nov. 21, this daughter of Munnings will ship west in search of her first G1 victory. Although she rallied powerfully from off the pace to win the Chilukki, Finite has plenty of natural speed, evidenced by her gate to wire maiden win going 6 ½ furlongs on grass at age two. With three graded stakes victories and an overall mark of 11-6-3-0, she is the leading money earner in the field with $757,869 and looms the post time favorite.

MERNEITH

Owner: HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud

Trainer: Bob Baffert

A game neck winner of an ungraded six furlong stakes at Keeneland on Nov. 7, this daughter of American Pharoah was an emphatic 3 ¼ length allowance winner at the same distance here on Oct. 11 and thus seeks her third consecutive win. A well beaten third by Horse of the Year candidate Swiss Skydiver in her only graded stakes try, the G2 Santa Anita Oaks five starts back on June 6, Merneith appears poised for a top effort as Baffert seeks his record eighth La Brea triumph.

MOTIVATED SELLER

Owner: Klaravich Stables, Inc.

Trainer: Chad Brown

Second, beaten a neck by Merneith going six furlongs at Keeneland Nov. 7, this daughter of top sire Into Mischief is very much on the improve for Brown. A six length first-out maiden winner going six furlongs at Gulfstream Park Jan. 12, she was then idle until Oct. 11 at Belmont Park, where she pressed the early pace and registered a 2 ¾ length allowance win at the same distance. In what will be her fourth career start, Motivated Seller will be trying graded stakes competition for the first time.

THE GRADE I LA BREA WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 11 Approximate post time 2:30 p.m. PT

Princess Mo—Geovanni Franco—120
Merneith—John Velazquez—120
Himiko—Flavien Prat—120
Secret Keeper—Abel Cedillo–120
Finite—Ricardo Santana, Jr.—122
Biddy Duke—Juan Hernandez—122
Provocation—Joel Rosario—120
Motivated Seller—Umberto Rispoli—120
Fair Maiden—Ricardo Gonzalez—120
Golden Principal—Mike Smith—120
Stellar Sound—Victor Espinoza–120

The G1 La Brea, to be contested for the 48th time, is one of five graded stakes on an 11-race card Saturday.

Although there is no public admittance, fans can watch and wager via 1st.com/Bet and they can watch all of Santa Anita's races free of charge at santaanita.com/live. Special early first post time on Saturday is at 11 a.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Baffert Has Futurity Winner Spielberg Aimed At Jan. 30 Robert B. Lewis Stakes

Bob Baffert has Spielberg ticketed for Santa Anita's Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30 following his audacious nose victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, which Baffert won for the seventh straight time.

Baffert has captured the Los Al Futurity every year since it was moved from Hollywood Park to the Cypress track in 2014, and this was the 13th time he has won it overall.

Another victory would match Charlie Whittingham's amazing mark of 14 wins in the same stakes, which The Bald Eagle achieved in the grassy San Juan Capistrano marathon at Santa Anita.

Rallying on the outside in Los Al's long stretch, Spielberg got up in the last bob under Flavien Prat to shade the longest shot in the field of six, 33-1 maiden The Great One, in a photo so close Baffert wasn't sure he won until his number six was posted.

“I was watching it live from a bad angle,” Baffert said, “so I looked at the TV but the horses had already hit the wire. I asked out loud, 'Did I get beat?' and some little guy nearby kept saying, 'The six, the six.'

“I didn't know. I was asking everybody.”

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Charlatan ‘Healthy’ For Highly-Anticipated Matchup With Nashville In Saturday’s Malibu

Charlatan, one in a battalion of bluebloods based in Bob Baffert's barn, faces off against Nashville in the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu Stakes on opening day, Saturday, Dec. 26, the marquee event as historic Santa Anita ushers in its 84th season of world-class racing.

This year's Malibu is arguably one of the most anticipated in the event's 70 runnings, pitting two immensely talented sons of 2004 Eclipse Award champion male sprinter Speightstown against one another.

The Malibu has been won in the past by a Who's Who of Thoroughbreds, among them Runhappy (2015), Ferdinand (1986), Precisionist (1984), Spectacular Bid (1980), Ancient Title (1974), Damascus (1968), Buckpasser (1966) Native Diver (1962), Olden Times (1961), Hillsdale (1958), Round Table (1957) Determine (1955) and Calumet Farm's star filly A Gleam (1953).

Last year it was won by star-crossed Omaha Beach, whose potential for further greatness on the track ended when he was retired to stud after a filling in his right hind leg prevented him from running in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 25 of this year.

Santa Anita's traditional opening day is saturated with stakes, six in all, three of them Grade 1's: the $300,000 Malibu for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs; the $300,000 La Brea for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs; and the $300,000 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 ¼ miles on turf.

The Malibu, La Brea and American Oaks are the final three Grade 1 stakes to be run in the United States this year.

First post time on opening day will be 11 a.m.

Charlatan, a $700,000 chestnut colt, finished first in each of his three starts by a combined margin of 22 lengths but was disqualified from his six-length triumph in a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby May 2 on a medication violation. He has not raced since but is firing bullets for his return, a display as synonymous with Baffert as his signature white hair.

Through Dec. 6, Baffert led all trainers in Grade 1 wins this year with 15, four more than Chad Brown.

”Charlatan is doing really well,” said Baffert, who will be seeking his fourth Malibu victory, having won in 2018 with McKinzie, 2013 with Shakin It Up and 2011 with The Factor. “You can only do so much coming off a layoff going seven eighths…

“He's healthy and that's the main thing; he should run well.”

Baffert had to stop on Charlatan after May 2 due to a minor filling in a front ankle that he described at the time as “not even a flake.”

Saturday at Santa Anita, Charlatan worked five furlongs in :59.80, a tad off the time of Malibu contender Independence Hall, who went the same distance in a bullet :59 flat for Michael McCarthy.

Baffert also plans to run multiple graded stakes winner Thousand Words in the Malibu with John Velazquez aboard. Thousand Words last raced Oct. 3 in the Preakness, finishing eighth after pressing the pace. The son of Pioneerof the Nile has been working lights out for the Malibu, as two bullet breezes on Nov. 12 and Nov. 28 would attest, in addition to his five-furlong drill Friday in 59.80.

Nashville, a bay colt trained by Steve Asmussen, also has had three starts, winning by a combined margin of nearly 25 lengths, including the restricted Perryville at Keeneland by 3 ½ lengths on Nov. 7, in which he set a track record for six furlongs of 1:07.89. He has been working brilliantly since, including a bullet five furlongs in a minute flat, breezing, at Fair Grounds on Dec. 1.

Nashville is owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm and was bought for $460,000 by CHC and Maverick Racing, the purchasing arm of WinStar, from the Lane's End consignment to the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

He will be ridden by 28-year-old Ricardo Santana Jr. from the Panamanian town of El Chorrillo. Santana, a 2008 graduate of the Laffit Pincay Jr. school for jockeys in Panama, also will do honors for Asmussen on Finite in the La Brea.

Strongly supporting the Malibu, La Brea and American Oaks are the Grade 2, $200,000 San Antonio Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles, a major steppingstone to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6; the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile for 3-year-olds on turf; and the grassy $75,000 Lady of Shamrock Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile. Overall, $1,375,000 in stakes money will be up for grabs.

Baffert has four horses nominated to the La Brea and plans to run all four: Merneith, who worked five furlongs Saturday in :59.80; Golden Principal, Himiko and Provocation. Himiko breezed four furlongs in :48 flat and Provocation in :47.40, both on Sunday, while Golden Principal went six furlongs Friday in 1:13.20.

Santa Anita's stakes spectacular continues on Sunday with the Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel Stakes for fillies and mares, three and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf and the $75,000 Eddie Logan Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile on the grass.

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Flood Of Northern California Horses Swells Fields, Boosts Wagering During Los Alamitos Meet

Large fields, a record Pick 6 pool and payoff, and a fourth consecutive sweep of the Grade 1 Starlet and Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert were among the highlights of the 11-day Los Angeles County Fair Winter Thoroughbred meet, which concluded Sunday at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif.

Buoyed by an influx of more than 200 horses from Northern California – due to the current suspension of racing at Golden Gate Fields – the average field size for the season was nearly nine runners per race, compared to 6.97 for the 2019 Winter meet. There were 854 participants in 98 races during the season.

This led to a sizable boost in terms of business. The average daily handle on races run at Los Alamitos was up 36% over 2019 and average daily handle increased 20% on a comparable basis to last year's Winter season.

“This meet was an unprecedented one,'' said F. Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association. “In the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases in California and elsewhere, racing was conducted safely thanks to the excellent compliance by all participants with the preventative measures in place.

“As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak at Golden Gate Fields, trainers and caregivers were not permitted to accompany their horses to Southern California. Los Alamitos management and the connections of those horses from Northern California are indebted to the local trainers who stepped up and assumed the training and care of those thoroughbreds.

“Without their help, the meet would not have been as successful and the owners of the shippers from Northern California wouldn't have had the opportunity to race.

“The Southern California Off-Site Stabling and Vanning Fund also helped mitigate this situation by covering the costs of transporting horses from Golden Gate to Southern California. The efforts of many contributed to how well things went during these three weeks.''

A five-day Pick 6 carryover led to a record total Pick 6 pool – and payoff – Dec. 18. Chasing a carryover that had swelled to $423,178, bettors wagered $1,809,485 for a total pool of $2,232,663. The previous record of $1,558,329 was set Dec. 17, 2016.

There were six perfect tickets two days ago and each was worth $228,816, bettering the previous best of $110,732 Dec. 12, 2014.

Baffert's latest successes in the Starlet and Los Alamitos Futurity were provided by, respectively, 17-1 shot Varda and 19-10 second choice Spielberg. The nose victory by Spielberg over 33-1 shot The Great One was Baffert's seventh in a row in the Futurity and his 13th overall. He won it six times at Hollywood Park between 1997-2013.

The meet's other graded stakes – the Grade 3, $100,000 Bayakoa – was captured by Proud Emma for trainer Peter Miller and owners Gem Inc. and Tom Kagele.

The two other stakes were for 2-year-olds bred or sired in California. Sensible Cat won the $100,000 Soviet Problem for Irvin Racing Stable and trainer Carla Gaines while 13-1 shot Play Chicken won the $100,000 King Glorious for owner-breeder J. Paul Reddam's Reddam Racing LLC and trainer Doug O'Neill.

Baffert, O'Neill and Jonathan Wong shared the training title with five victories.

Baffert had the most wins (nine) for the year at Los Alamitos, combining the Winter meet with the Summer Thoroughbred Festival (June 27-July 5). O'Neill was second with eight and Steve Miyadi third with seven.

A closing day triple enabled Abel Cedillo to win the jockey title. He finished with 13 victories, one more than Juan Hernandez and two more than apprentice Jessica Pyfer.

For the year at Los Alamitos, Hernandez finished with 16 wins, one more than Cedillo. Edwin Maldonado was third with 13.

Daytime thoroughbred racing will return to Los Alamitos in 2021. The first of three meets is scheduled to begin Thursday, June 24 and continue through Sunday, July 4, followed by the Los Angeles County Fair season (Sept. 10-26) and the Winter meet (Dec. 2-12).

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