Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Improbable Romps In the Awesome Again

The lesser-fancied of the Bob Baffert-trained duo, ‘TDN Rising Star’ Improbable (City Zip) was uncustomarily taken well off a fast early pace, began to hit his best stride while wide on the second turn, inhaled the leading group in upper stretch and rolled home to defeat odds-on Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) by 4 1/2 lengths in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita.

Though he hadn’t been more than two lengths off the early pace in any of his last four races, Improbable was taken back to last by Drayden Van Dyke as Take the One O One (Acclamation) set a fast pace, clocking fractions of :23.33 and :46.36, with Maximum Security in hot pursuit. Improbable began to catch the eye midway on the final turn, rolled five wide under a full head of steam into the stretch and powered clear.

Maximum Security, with Luis Saez back in the saddle, won the battle for second while tasting defeat for the first time since the Pegasus S. last June. He was perfect in two prior attempts since joining the Bob Baffert barn, including a powerful score in the GI TVG Pacific Classic S. last time Aug. 22.

The Awesome Again was the second Breeders’ Cup Challenge race win for Improbable in 2020, who previously earned his way into the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic with his victory in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga last month.
The beaten favorite in last term’s GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. kicked off 2020 with a runner-up finish in the Oaklawn Mile S. Apr. 11, then broke through with a powerful performance in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup S. June 6 prior to his equally impressive win at the Spa.

Pedigree Notes:

City Zip died at age 19 three years ago, but he remains a top sire with 88 black-type winners covering all surfaces and multiple distances. His 33 graded winners have contributed mightily to his tally of over $105 million in progeny earnings, and Improbable is one of his sire’s 11 millionaires. City Zip is a half-brother to 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper, whose sire, Awesome Again, is the namesake of this latest Improbable win. Improbable’s dam, the A.P. Indy mare Rare Event, is out of a half-sister to GISW and leading sire Hard Spun (Danzig). Rare Event’s most recent produce is a yearling colt by Cross Traffic. She was bred to Curlin for 2021. Improbable is the most successful of three stakes winners by City Zip out of A.P. Indy mares, with the others being MSW Lipstick City and SW Marshall Eddy, both on the turf.

Saturday, Santa Anita
AWESOME AGAIN S.-GI, $300,000, Santa Anita, 9-26, 3yo/up,
1 1/8m, 1:49.01, ft.
1–IMPROBABLE, 126, c, 4, by City Zip
                1st Dam: Rare Event, by A.P. Indy
                2nd Dam: Our Rite of Spring, by Stravinsky
                3rd Dam: Turkish Tryst, by Turkoman
   ‘TDN Rising Star‘ ($110,000 Wlg ’16 KEENOV; $200,000 Ylg ’17
KEESEP). O-WinStar Farm LLC, China Horse Club International
Ltd. & SF Racing LLC; B-St. George Farm LLC & G. Watts
Humphrey Jr. (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Drayden Van Dyke.
$180,000. Lifetime Record: 14-7-3-0, $1,709,520. Werk Nick
   Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Maximum Security, 126, c, 4, New Year’s Day–Lil Indy, by
Anasheed. O-Gary & Mary West, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael

Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc.

(KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Midcourt, 124, g, 5, Midnight Lute–Mayo On the Side, by
French Deputy. ($450,000 Ylg ’16 KEESEP). O-C R K Stable LLC;
B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs. $36,000.
Margins: 4HF, HF, 3 3/4. Odds: 1.80, 0.50, 12.70.
Also Ran: Take the One O One, Sleepy Eyes Todd.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Princess Noor Cruises To Third Consecutive Victory In Chandelier

Zedan Racing Stables' unbeaten Princess Noor stretched out to two turns for the first time in her third career starts, making short work of her four rivals in the Grade 2 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Saturday.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, the Bob Baffert-trained daughter of freshman sire Not This Time won by 8 1/4 lengths, covering 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:45.59 and paying $2.40 as the heavy favorite. Varda completed a Baffert-exacta, finishing second ahead of Miss Costa Rica, with Illumination fourth and Make Mischief trailing the field.

This was Baffert's 12th win in the Chandelier, formerly known as the Oak Leaf Stakes.

The Chandelier is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race, giving an automatic, fees-paid berth in the Juvenile Fillies to the winner.

Breaking from the rail, Espinoza allowed Princess Noor to settle in just behind another Baffert runner, Illumination, who took the field through early fractions of :23.51, :48.28 and 1:12.95 for the opening six furlongs.

Princess Noor shifted to the outside approaching the far turn, quickly put away Illumination on the turn for home and cruised to the wire in hand after a mile fractional time of 1:45.59.

Bred in Kentucky by International Equities Holding Inc., Princess Noor was purchased for $1,350,000 at the OBS April Sale of 2-year-olds in training earlier this year.

“The talent, the energy, the speed!” Espinoza said. “She dominated everyone with the energy she created during the race and I had a lot of confidence in her. Bob knows how to train his horses. She's really kind, and she doesn't need much. She does everything on her own, I'm just the pilot trying to find a way to have a little room to let her run and stretch her legs. It's so easy to ride these types of horses.

“It's my job to ride her with confidence, because I know she was the best filly in the race and I had to ride her like she was the best filly in the race.

“She reminds me of other great horses I used to ride like American Pharoah and California Chrome. The talent is there, we just have to let them be happy around the racetrack. I've been riding amazing horses, but as a filly, she's the best one I've ever ridden.

“It takes a team to have an amazing horse like this. It creates better energy when you have a good team. When all the team is happy and working together and pushing forward, things work out much better.”

Said Baffert: “I talked to Victor (Espinoza) before and I talked to all my riders I told them, 'Just ride your races'. When you are in the one hole they usually don't break as well but I think Victor rode her with a lot of confidence. He's been on enough good horses and he knows. He took his time and I saw the other filly (Illumination) go to the lead and they just rode their own race.

“I saw Victor get behind and I saw that nice move before the three-eighths and you can only do that when you have a Ferrari under you. Turning for home I was one-two-three and I thought, 'This is a nice feeling'. I was hoping the other one (Illumination) would have held on for third.

“This filly is just incredible and very talented. I don't train her as hard and I run her into shape. You never know if they can go two turns until they do it and it looks like that's not going to be a problem.

“This was perfect for her. If you don't have the clientele behind you its hard to get a filly like this but she was just a knock-out, she was something else.”

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Princess Noor Lights ‘Em Up in Chandelier

The GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies will go through unbeaten ‘TDN Rising Star’ Princess Noor (Not This Time) following a third straight tour-de-force victory in Saturday’s GII Chandelier S. at Santa Anita.

Making her two-turn debut following an eye-catching debut win at Del Mar Aug. 22 and runaway score in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. Sept. 6, the $1.35-million OBS Spring topper wasn’t the quickest away from her rail draw beneath Victor Espinoza.

She rode the rail into the first turn, but was no better than third. Princess Noor did not appear completely at ease being stuck down inside, but she jumped into the bridle when taken out into the three path, quickly making progress to sit second into the final turn.

She easily claimed the front-runner with about five-sixteenths of a mile to race and was not asked for her best in strolling through the final 100 yards en route to an 8 1/4-length victory. Stablemate Varda (Distorted Humor) was second.

Princess Noor provided Hall of Famer Bob Baffert with his record 12th Chandelier victory.

“When you are in the one hole, they usually don’t break as well, but I think Victor rode her with a lot of confidence,” Baffert said. “He’s been on enough good horses and he knows. This filly is just incredible and very talented. I don’t train her as hard and I run her into shape. You never know if they can go two turns until they do and it looks like that’s not going to be a problem.”

Princess Noor drew high praise from her rider as well.

“She reminds me of other great horses I used to ride like American Pharoah and California Chrome,” Espinoza said. “The talent is there, we just have to let them be happy around the racetrack. I’ve been riding amazing horses, but as a filly, she’s the best one I’ve ever ridden.”

Pedigree Notes:

It’s a contentious race between the top three freshman sires of 2020, with each sporting two black-type winners to date and their earnings all within range of each other. Not This Time, a son of Giant’s Causeway, leads the list by individual winners with 11 and has two undefeated stakes winners in Princess Noor and Dirty Dangle, who won last week’s Woodbine Cares S., plus the Grade III-placed Hopeful Princess.

Princess Noor made headlines before she even ran as Not This Time’s most expensive sales horse to date when she brought $1.35 million at OBS this spring (:20 1/5), but Not This Time hasn’t done badly in this curtailed yearling sales season either, with 32 sold this year in North America for an average of $135,504 on a $15,000 stud fee. Princess Noor was previously a $135,000 KEESEP yearling.

Princess Noor is out of the 2014 GIII Senorita S. winner Sheza Smoke Show, who has a yearling colt named Protonic Power (Protonico) and delivered a filly by Tapwrit this year. She was bred back to Protonico for 2021. International Equities Holding purchased Sheza Smoke Show, carrying Princess Noor, for $185,000 at the 2017 KEENOV sale.

For a recent profile on breeder Oussama Aboughazale’s International Equities Holding’s operation from Jessica Martini, click here.

Saturday, Santa Anita
CHANDELIER S.-GII, $200,000, Santa Anita, 9-26, 2yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:45.59, ft.
1–PRINCESS NOOR, 122, f, 2, by Not This Time
                1st Dam: Sheza Smoke Show (GSW, $150,644), by Wilko
                2nd Dam: Avery Hall, by A. P Jet
                3rd Dam: Royal Form, by Dynaformer
‘TDN Rising Star‘ ($135,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP; $1,350,000 2yo
’20 OBSAPR). O-Zedan Racing Stables Inc; B-International
Equities Holding, Inc. (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Victor Espinoza.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $303,000. Werk Nick
Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Varda, 122, f, 2, Distorted Humor–She’ll Be Right, by Sky
Mesa. ($100,000 Ylg ’19 SARAUG; $700,000 2yo ’20 OBSAPR).
O-Baoma Corporation; B-Masters 2013 LLC & Distorted Humor
Syndicate (NY); T-Bob Baffert. $40,000.
3–Miss Costa Rica, 122, f, 2, Hit It a Bomb–Five Star Daydream,
by Five Star Day. ($95,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP; $200,000 2yo ’20
OBSMAR). O-Carroll Boys Racing, Sayjay Racing LLC, Jerry
McClanahan & Richard Baltas; B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY);
T-Richard Baltas. $24,000.
Margins: 8 1/4, 9 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.20, 6.20, 9.30.
Also Ran: Illumination, Make Mischief. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Art Collector, Thousand Words Breeze At Churchill Downs

Bruce Lunsford's Blue Grass Stakes (Grade II) winner Art Collector and Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm's multiple graded stakes winner Thousand Words logged their final breezes Saturday morning at Churchill Downs prior to competing in the $1-million Preakness Stakes (G1) in Baltimore, Md., on Oct. 3 – the third jewel of the 2020 Triple Crown.

Art Collector, with Brian Hernandez Jr. in the saddle, worked a half-mile in :48 while Thousand Words and Florent Geroux breezed five furlongs in 1:00.60.

Another possible Preakness contender to work Saturday at Churchill Downs was Peter Callahan's $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) runner-up Swiss Skydiver who went five furlongs in 1:00.80 with Tyler Gaffalione aboard.

Art Collector, the classy 3-year-old son of Bernardini, was the seventh fastest of 78 horses at the distance Saturday and worked through fractions of :12.40, :24.40, :35.80 and :48. The five-time winner galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.60.

Thousand Words, who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby (G1) after he flipped in the paddock, worked with blinkers on through fractions of :11.80, :24.40 and :48.20. He completed his work with a six-furlong gallop out time of 1:13.60.

“I thought he worked a lot better today with blinkers,” Geroux said. “Last week was his first work over the track so he didn't wear them but went very easy. It was a bit more of a serious work today.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to arrive in Louisville on Sunday for Kentucky Derby winner and fellow Preakness contender Authentic's work on Monday.

Also working Saturday morning was possible Preakness Stakes contender Swiss Skydiver who completed early fractions of :12, :23.60 and :35.80 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:15.20. Swiss Skydiver's Preakness Stakes status remains in question, according to trainer Kenny McPeek.

In total, there are seven possible Preakness Stakes contenders based at Churchill Downs. They are scheduled to leave Louisville and fly to Baltimore on Tuesday. The locally based Preakness contenders are (with trainer): Art Collector (Drury), Authentic (Baffert), Excession (Steve Asmussen), Max Player (Asmussen), Mr. Big News (Bret Calhoun), Swiss Skydiver (Kenny McPeek), and Thousand Words (Baffert).

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