Tag: Bob Baffert

Imagination Wins San Felipe Thriller, Leads Baffert Exacta

The GII San Felipe S. last its headliner with the scratch of the Bob Baffert-trained Nysos (Nyquist), but Baffert still dominated the race with stablemates Imagination (Into Mischief) and Wine Me Up (Vino Rosso) running in tandem for much of the 1 1/16 miles and in lockstep down the stretch before Imagination just got his nose in front on the wire Sunday at Santa Anita.

Of his one-two finish in the San Felipe, Baffert said, “We're trying to develop these horses, so it was good for both of them. Wine Me Up ran tough. It's like watching the 49ers Super Bowl game. Unfortunately, someone has to lose, but I'm proud of them both. They both showed up. That's all you can ask for.”

Wine Me Up was fastest out of the gate and had the lead in the early strides, but Imagination, the 4-5 favorite, strode up to challenge for the lead into the first turn.

Scatify (Justify), who broke from the rail in the four-horse field found himself in tight quarters off Wine Me Up's heels with Mc Vay (Constitution) pressing him from the outside. Rattled in the right quarters, he came out into the first turn, knocking Imagination and forcing Mc Vay wide into the bend. Hector Berrios took a strong hold of Scatify down the backstretch and that colt took back to the rear of the field.

Imagination, meanwhile, had recovered his momentum and took a length advantage over his stablemate as the half went up in :47.04. Wine Me Up moved back on even turns with the favorite and the two turned for home together. Imagination looked to be getting the better of his rival in upper stretch, but Wine Me Up along the rail battled back on even terms and it was a ding-dong battle to the finish.

“He broke out and we went to the clubhouse turn the guy behind me struck into me,” said winning jockey Frankie Dettori. “My horse got frightened, and I took him back to get him wide to get him to relax and get him back into the race. He fought a great duel. He was full of heart.”

Tom Ryan of SF Racing, co-owner of the winner, admitted he wasn't sure who had won the photo finish, but he found plenty to be positive about Imagination's effort.

“That was a great race,” Ryan said. “I didn't know which way it went at the wire. It was a little bit of a messy race early on, he had to recollect himself. He kind of got scared, these are young 3-year-old colts, they are learning their craft. It is amazing you could have a 12-horse field and nothing, and in a four-horse field anything can happen.

“It's good to see him have the confidence to put it back together and not back down from a fight and get there at the wire. I think there is a lot of potential in this horse. He is just learning as he goes, and I think the farther the better. He is a classy colt, he's always shown it, he looks it and thankfully his ability matches his looks.”

A $1.05-million Keeneland September yearling, Imagination opened his career with a pair of runner-up efforts at Del Mar late last year. He graduated going one mile at Santa Anita on New Year's Day and missed by just a neck to stablemate and 'TDN Rising Star' Maymun (Frosted) in a one-mile allowance Feb. 11.

 

Pedigree Notes:

Spendthrift's all-conquering Into Mischief was represented by the second and third-place finishers in Saturday's GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream Park and his son Timberlake put himself firmly on the Kentucky Derby trail this year with a win in the GII Rebel S. last weekend.

Magical Feeling, the fourth generation of this family bred by Peter Blum, is the dam of last year's GIII Monmouth Oaks winner and GI Acorn S. third Occult (Into Mischief). She has a yearling colt by Gun Runner, but aborted a Flightline foal for this year.

The cross of Into Mischief over Empire Maker mares has resulted in 29 winners from 43 starters and now has seven stakes winners, including Saturday's G3 Burj Nahaar winner Laurel River. As noted by Alan Carasso in Sunday's TDN, the cross has also been represented by GI Kentucky Derby hero Mandaloun, the Grade II winners Occult, Center Aisle and Taraz.

 

Sunday, Santa Anita
DK HORSE SAN FELIPE S.-GII, $294,000, Santa Anita, 3-3, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.55, ft.
1–IMAGINATION, 120, c, 3, by Into Mischief
           1st Dam: Magical Feeling (GSW & GISP, $554,532), by Empire Maker
           2nd Dam: Magical Mood (GB), by Forestry
           3rd Dam: Good Mood, by Devil's Bag
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($1,050,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and Tom J. Ryan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Lanfranco Dettori. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-3-0, $256,800. *1/2 to Magical (Tapit), SW, $164,550 and Exulting (Tapit), MSW, $687,370; Full to Occult, GSW & MGISP, $451,450. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Wine Me Up, 120, c, 3, Vino Rosso–Deanaallen'skitten, by Kitten's Joy. ($115,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV; $300,000 2yo '23 OBSOPN). O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman; B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Mc Vay, 120, c, 3, Constitution–Dothraki Sea, by Union Rags. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($1,250,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG). O-C R K Stable LLC; B-Band of Brothers (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs. $36,000.
Margins: HD, 6 3/4, 31. Odds: 0.90, 1.70, 9.90.
Also Ran: Scatify. Scratched: Nysos.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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The Week in Review: In Wake of Triple Crown Purse Increases Sophomore Horsepower Missing in Action

Within the past three months, the purses for all three Triple Crown races have been raised. Paradoxically, this increase in prize money has coincided with a 2024 prep race season that is uncharacteristically light on emphatic, leap-off-the-page contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S., and GI Belmont S.

The first weekend in March has traditionally served as a launch pad for sophomores who figure to excel in the spring Classics and beyond. Of all the prep stakes currently carded at 1 1/16 miles, the two that have historically been the most prolific producers of Derby winners have been the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park (with 14 starters going on to win the Run for the Roses) and the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita Park (with 13).

This year, neither race figures to be a reliable measuring stick for calibrating the division's true horsepower.

The 1-5 favorite Dornoch (Good Magic) wired four overmatched foes in Saturday's Fountain of Youth S. But it will be difficult to discern where the full-brother to 2023 Derby winner Mage stands in the pecking order off that effort considering four other rivals scratched out of the race, including the three ranked closest to Dornoch on the morning line.

Out in California, the San Felipe S. lured just five entrants. Three were from Bob Baffert's barn–meaning they are ineligible to compete in the Derby because of Churchill Downs's corporate banishment of the Hall-of-Fame trainer. Then the day before the race, Baffert scratched the undefeated Nysos (Nyquist). The colt's defection not only drained the San Felipe of its star, but it meant that only two starters out of that stakes would be able to earn Derby qualifying points (the San Felipe's 6:02 p.m. Eastern post time Sunday was too late to include analysis for this column).

Using the most recent version of TDN's Sophomore Top 12 as a guide, it is difficult to zero in on any must-use betting interests for the 150th Derby based on what we have seen so far in the '24 prep season.

You can skim the Nos. 1, 2 and 7 contenders straight off that list for Derby consideration. 'Rising Stars' Nysos, Muth (Good Magic), and Maymun (Frosted) are all Baffert trainees who won't be Louisville-bound because of the Churchill ban.

Seeing these top California-based colts perform in other stakes has also become elusive. Over the last two weekends, Baffert has scratched Nysos from the San Felipe S. because of a sudden desire to give that 1-5 morning-line favorite more time off between starts, and he opted not to enter Muth in the Feb. 24 GII Rebel S. (where he would have been the heavy favorite), when he didn't like how the colt's final workout for that race turned out. Both colts are reportedly fine physically; they are now tentatively expected to contest the GI Santa Anita Derby and GI Arkansas Derby, respectively.

The Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 9 contenders on the Sophomore Top 12 all share the dubious distinction of failing to advance in terms of Beyer Speed Figures from age two to three–even though three of those four won their first sophomore starts.

No. 3-rated 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner)'s Beyer pattern declined from 91 to 90 when that colt won the Feb. 17 GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds.

No. 5-ranked juvenile champ Fierceness, a 'TDN Rising Star' by City of Light, saw his Beyer dip from 105 to 84 after winning the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November, then running a no-impact third at 1-5 odds in the GIII Holy Bull S. in February.

No. 6-slotted Dornoch (Good Magic)'s winning 88 Beyer in the Fountain of Youth S. represented a three-point haircut off a 91 earned in his GII Remsen S. score.

The No. 9-ranked 'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief) captured the Rebel S., inheriting 4-5 favoritism when Muth wasn't entered. But his 93 Beyer from that win equates to a three-race plateau at that figure without any numerical advancement over a five-month span.

Conquest Warrior, another 'TDN Rising Star,' was pegged at No. 8 in the most recent Sophomore Top 12. He uncorked a five-length smackdown score at 1-5 odds in a Gulfstream nine-furlong allowance on Friday against five rivals. But this son of City of Light remains untested against stakes company and will attempt to garner his first Derby qualifying points after replicating, not bettering, an 84 Beyer from his Jan. 13 maiden win.

The two Todd Pletcher-trained horses holding down the Nos. 10 and 12 spots on TDN's Top 12, Locked (Gun Runner) and Speak Easy (Constitution), were both unexpected defections from the Fountain of Youth S.

Pletcher scratched 'TDN Rising Star' Locked Saturday after not liking the way the colt had moved in a morning gallop. Locked, who won the GI Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland and ran third as the beaten favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, has now missed consecutive starts after a fever kept him out of the GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Feb. 6. He remains unraced in 2024.

Speak Easy, a 100-Beyer winner in his Jan. 27 debut, was challenging Dornoch for favoritism in the Fountain of Youth S. when he unseated his jockey in pre-race warm-ups and reportedly ran into the rail and sustained a superficial cut, necessitating a scratch.

The plethora of recent, high-profile no-shows against the backdrop of Derby contenders being lightly raced to begin with underscores the missing-in-action vibe that is attaching itself to this year's sophomore crop.

With that in mind, maybe it's time to start looking for horses of interest in prep stakes that don't traditionally yield Derby contenders. Saturday's GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct and the ungraded John Battaglia Memorial S. at Turfway both produced winners who, at the very least, seem to have forward momentum going for them.

Deterministic (Liam's Map) is now 2-for-2 after splashing home first in the Gotham S. He stalked and pounced from mid-pack, splitting rivals in the stretch to register a 93-Beyer victory coming off a nearly seven-month layoff for trainer Christophe Clement. The colt will ship back to Payson Park, where he's been training this winter, while his connections mull a next start.

Encino (Nyquist) improved his record to 2-for-3 in Tapeta routes at Turfway, with his only loss being a neck defeat when second in his debut for trainer Brad Cox. He overcame post 11 in the Battaglia S. despite getting hooked four wide on both turns and running up on the heels of the favorite at the three-sixteenths pole. After shifting outward and regaining his stalled momentum, Encino scored by a measured length, earning an 89 Beyer. Next-race plans have yet to be formulated.

Despite a history that dates to 1953, only one Gotham S. starter has ever won the Derby–the mighty Secretariat, who won both those stakes in 1973.

The Battaglia S., which dates to 1982 but has only been a points-awarding Derby prep since 2021, has also yielded exactly one Derby winner from its roster of starters–the 80-1 shocker Rich Strike in 2022, who ran fourth in that year's Battaglia.

You can't get much farther apart on the spectrum of Derby winners than Secretariat and Rich Strike.

But then again, this is a Triple Crown prep campaign that is shaping up to be a ripe, open season for Derby dreamers, so don't dismiss the winners of the Gotham and Battaglia based solely on their unconventional prep-race paths.

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Baffert Wants Bettors’ Class-Action Suit Reassigned To Judge Who Already Dismissed Similar Case

Three days after a New Jersey federal judge ordered a class-action lawsuit filed in 2021 by a group of bettors against Bob Baffert to be transferred to a federal court in Kentucky, the legal team for the Hall-of-Fame trainer filed a motion seeking the reassignment of the case to a different, specific Kentucky judge who last summer dismissed a similar case against Baffert.

Baffert's Feb. 23 filing in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) asked for the reassignment based on the following reasoning:

“The Plaintiffs in this case are a group of disgruntled gamblers who placed bets on the 2021 [GI] Kentucky Derby and lost. In this action, they attempt to do what courts throughout the country have routinely rejected: they seek to recoup their gambling losses through a myriad of frivolous claims,” the Baffert filing stated.

“Plaintiffs initially filed this case in the Central District of California, only to voluntarily dismiss it when threatened with a Motion to Dismiss and Rule 11 sanctions. Plaintiffs then refiled the case in the District of New Jersey and Baffert filed a Motion to Dismiss in New Jersey.

“Rather than addressing the merits of Baffert's Motion to Dismiss, the District Court in New Jersey issued an Opinion and Order [on Feb. 20] transferring the case to the Western District of Kentucky,” the filing continued.

“One of the primary reasons the Court in New Jersey transferred this case to the Western District of Kentucky is that an almost identical case was previously been decided by the Hon. David J. Hale. In the prior case, Mattera, et al. v. Robert A. Baffert, et al., Judge Hale considered similar claims made by a group of disgruntled gamblers against Baffert involving the same 2021 Kentucky Derby.

“In transferring this case to the Western District of Kentucky, the New Jersey Court relied heavily on the fact that Judge Hale had previously considered the similar matter and that judicial economy and the interests of justice 'strongly' favored this case being assigned to him,” the filing continued.

“In sum, the District of New Jersey transferred this case to the Western District of Kentucky because it was that Court's determination that this matter should be resolved by the 'same decision-maker' that ruled in the Mattera action. That decision maker is Judge Hale. The Opinion from the New Jersey Court repeatedly cites to the fact that the case at bar involves the

same allegations, facts and defendants as the matter previously decided by Judge Hale…

“Given that one of the primary reasons that this case was transferred to the Western District of Kentucky was because of Judge Hale's familiarity with the issues in this case, the interests of judicial economy and justice dictate that the matter be reassigned to him,” Baffert's filing concluded.

The plaintiffs in the case had yet to file a legal response to Baffert's motion as of 3 p.m. on Feb. 26.

The original version of the suit was led by Michael Beychok, the winner of the 2012 National Horseplayers Championship. It was filed four days after Baffert's May 9, 2021, disclosure that Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone after crossing the finish wire first in the Derby.

The Beychok-led class-action group of horseplayers alleged they were cheated out of their property by Baffert on the basis that his betamethasone-positive trainee purportedly prevented them from cashing winning tickets on the runner-up.

Baffert has not only denied those allegations and asked for the case to be dismissed, but his legal team has also stated in court documents that the plaintiffs have twisted their case so far from reality that their alleged misstatements amount to libel.

The Mattera v. Baffert case that got tossed out of court by Hale on July 20, 2023, for failure to state a claim is currently being appealed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. That suit alleged negligence, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment because the plaintiffs' losing pari-mutuel bets on the 2021 Derby weren't honored as winners.

Last week, when transferring the case led by Beychok out of New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote that, “[T]he Western District of Kentucky has already resolved, on the merits, a case that is closely similar to this one…. There are, in short, fundamental similarities between the [Mattera] case and this lawsuit…. Having the same court handle both cases would help ensure that like cases–and these are very much like cases–are treated alike. That is a fundamental goal of our justice system.”

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The Avengers: Five Americans Look To Take Back Saudi Cup

In the previous four runnings of the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, American-based horses have–surprisingly–passed the post in first on a single occasion while finishing second on each occasion. That 'victory' came in the much-discussed inaugural running in 2020, a result that seems likely to soon be overturned, albeit to the benefit of another American horse.

So, even though the U.S. is the epicenter of world dirt racing, its five representatives this year arguably still have something to prove when a field of 14 loads the gate around 12:40 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. And it's anything but a fait accompli that one of them gets their picture taken in the King Abdulaziz winner's enclosure a short time thereafter.

We will analyze America's chances in these pages and will have a look at the runners from defending champion Japan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, plus previews for Saturday's five other group races back in TDN Europe.

White Abarrio (Race Day) looks to become the first winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic to double up in Riyadh and races first-up since his defeat of the re-opposing Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) at Santa Anita on the first Saturday of November. The 5-year-old really came to life at the back end of 2023, powering home in the Whitney prior to his Classic effort.

“We thought we had a chance of beating a couple of horses in the [Whitney],” trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. told the Saudi Cup notes team earlier this week. “We weren't expecting or hoping to beat Cody's Wish (Curlin), but two turns at Saratoga might not have been Cody's Wish's game, who knows, so we said we'd take a chance.

He continued, “But I never got to breeze him for the race, so we were like 10 days without breezing and you just show up. But we did breeze him the morning of [the race] and Irad [Ortiz] happened to be there watching. It wasn't my plan, I wasn't even there, I was on my way up because I had to train at Belmont but Irad caught it and he was wondering if we were going to scratch!” laughed the trainer.

“When I knew that we were coming here, it was like 11 days before we came and I was like man, they are playing into our hands because we don't need to breeze him,” the conditioner continued. “We can play the same game and right now I feel that he is over the trip and he's himself now.”

White Abarrio, who will carry the red-and-white silks of Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin Abdulaziz, has saddle cloth 14, but gate one, and he'll want to leave there running to be handy to a pace that maps above-average quick. Dutrow has expressed his intention to blow out his charge on race morning.

 

 

 

National Treasure is one of three in the race for Quality Road, who accounted for 2022 Saudi Cup stunner Emblem Road. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad employed front-running tactics to take out last year's GI Preakness S. and nearly pulled off the upset when ridden the same way in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last November. But the 4-year-old showed a bit of a rating gear when last seen in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., as he shook free into the final furlong and held the rallying Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) in the run to the line.

“He has a good post to work from in seven,” said Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert. “This is our fifth runner in this race, we have been second three times (Charlatan, 2021, Country Grammer, 2022-23), so we are hoping to make the breakthrough.”

Senor Buscador figures to sit a good trip from gate four beneath Junior Alvarado.

Reigning GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) may have been out of his depth in the Classic, as he was a beaten horse a long way from home, but this 1800-meter trip figures to suit him much better. He was a convincing winner of the GIII Louisiana S. when last seen Jan. 20, but those immediately behind that day made no impact in the GIII Mineshaft S. last weekend.

“I think he's more suited from a mile [1600m] to a mile and an eighth [1800m] and the one turn should be ideal for him,” jockey Florent Geroux said. “It's a very deep race. I've been on him many times before, I know him very well, the work rider has done a perfect job and I'll leave it to them.”

Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) is the least-likely among the five U.S. horses, but did post a 109 Beyer in wiring the GII Cigar Mile H. back in December.

“It's all about winning,” said trainer Dallas Stewart. “If you're not in it to win, you best stay home and if you don't want to be in great races like this, you ought to go do something else.”

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