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Zedan Joins List of Owners Sticking with Baffert Despite Derby Ban

Amr Zedan, who owns several top 3-year-old colts, has informed TDN that his horses are staying with trainer Bob Baffert, which means they will be ineligible to run in the GI Kentucky Derby, barring any change in policy from Churchill Downs. Churchill set Monday as a deadline for owners to take their horses away from Baffert. Any horse remaining in his barn after the deadline will not be permitted to race at Churchill Downs.

“No move,” Zedan said in a text message. “Mr. Baffert (is) our man.”

Tuesday morning, John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times reported that no 3-year-old Derby prospects had left the barn after the Jan. 29 deadline imposed by Churchill Downs.

“Nobody is going to transfer their horses,” Baffert told the Times. “I just remain focused on training my horses and competing in the big races. It's out of my hands. I just want what's best for the game.”

Zedan has several top 3-year-old colts. The best may be Muth (Good Magic), the winner of the GI American Pharoah S. and the GII San Vicente S. He also has 'TDN Rising Star' Maymun (Frosted), a very impressive winner of his Jan. 20 debut, and Coach Prime (Quality Road), who was third in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity.

On Monday, the TDN reached out to a number of Baffert owners and could not find one who had decided to take their horses away from Baffert in order for them to run in the Derby. Zedan joins a list that includes Mike Pegram, Jack Liebau and Dr. Edward Allred, Baoma Corp and the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables.

Baffert was banned for two years after his 2021 Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for betamethasone, an ingredient in a cream prescribed for a skin rash. Baffert served his two-year ban, only to find that Churchill had tacked on an additional year in 2024.

In 2022 and 2023, several owners turned their horses over to former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen, which made them eligible to contest the Derby.

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Despite Churchill Ban, Key Owners Keep Their Horses With Baffert

With Churchill Downs having ruled that any horse that remained in the Baffert barn as of Jan. 29 would be ineligible to run in the GI Kentucky Derby, Monday was decision day for Baffert's owners. In 2022 and 2023, several moved their horses into the barn of former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen prior to the Derby, but that may not turn out to be the case this year. At least four owners who have Derby candidates with Baffert have said their horses will remain under the care of their Hall of Fame trainer.

Owners Jack Liebau, Tom Ryan and Mike Pegram told the TDN that they will not be taking their horses away from Baffert, even though that means they cannot run in the Derby. In addition, Ed Nevins, the director of the Baoma Corp, the owner of the highly regarded 3-year-old Nysos (Nyquist), told Horse Racing Nation that the undefeated colt will also remain in Baffert's care.

The TDN reached out to other owners who have Derby prospects with Baffert, including Amr Zedan, but, at deadline for this story, had not received a response from them. Baffert has had little to say about his situation and was unavailable for comment Monday.

The New York-bred Wynstock (Solomini) is entered in Saturday's GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn. The winner of the GII Los Alamitos Futurity, he is co-owned by Liebau and Dr. Edward Allred, the owner of Los Alamitos.

“When Wynstock won the Los Alamitos Futurity, Dr. Allred, who is the majority owner, said that the horse was not going to go to the Kentucky Derby because he thought Churchill was treating Baffert unfairly,” Liebau said. “I guess we will look at the Preakness, but who knows what the status of the horse will be by Preakness time and how good the horse is. Dr. Allred calls the shots.”

Ryan is the managing partner of SF Bloodstock, which partners with Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, a group that is among Baffert's biggest owners.

“Our horses will be in their own stalls tomorrow morning, and that says it all, doesn't it?” said Ryan.

Jack Wolf, the managing partner of Starlight Racing, added: “Tom Ryan is the managing partner and I agree with the decision he has made, which is we're not changing trainers. We just feel like it is the right thing to do and not just from a loyalty standpoint. We have nothing against Tim Yakteen. We think he is a very good trainer and this has nothing to do with him. It can be very destructive to these horses at this young age to go to a different barn and change conditioners, change their feed, change everything.”

Pegram, who has had horses with Baffert ever since he switched over to Thoroughbreds and has a Derby candidate this year in Wine Me Up (Vino Rosso), responded to a text from the TDN, writing: “We're doing the same as we have the last two years, staying with Bobby.”

Nysos has won his two starts by a combined margin of 19 1/4 lengths and may prove to be the best of Baffert's 3-year-olds.

“Unfortunately, our country is devolving into a nation where excluding the top competition is considered a legitimate way to win,” Nevins told Horse Racing Nation's Ron Flatter. “Bob Baffert is our trainer, and we stand with him and any decisions he makes regarding our horses.”

After Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for the medication betamethasone following the 2021 Derby, Churchill banned Baffert from its tracks. The suspension initially was for two years but Churchill later amended that and included 2024 to the ban. In addition, in 2023, it gave owners until the end of February to move their horses from Baffert in order to be eligible for the Derby. This year decision day was moved up by one month.

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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).

The post Flood Of Northern California Horses Swells Fields, Boosts Wagering During Los Alamitos Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Allred Threatens To Cease Racing At Los Al After CHRB Approves Only Six-Month License

Los Alamitos owner Dr. Ed Allred threatened to withdraw his racing license application and cease racing at the Cypress, Calif. track on Thursday, reports the Los Angeles Times, when the California Horse Racing Board was preparing to vote whether to approve only a six-month license during its regular meeting.

Allred had applied for a year-long Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing license at Los Alamitos, but the six-month idea was proposed by vice-chairman Oscar Gonzales in light of Los Al's 29 racing or training fatalities since Dec. 27, 2019.

Allred was allowed to speak at the virtual board meeting prior to the vote, and argued that Los Alamitos can't operate with a six-month license because horsemen need to be able to plan for an entire year.

Commissioners were tied 3-3 on the six-month license in the first vote, and tied again on a proposal to grant a one-year license with a six-month review process. Gonzales was eventually able to convince two of the dissenting board members to vote for a six-month license, and the measure passed 5-1 with chairman Gregory Ferraro the lone nay.

“Los Alamitos will be requesting reconsideration of the action taken by the board and hopes that its request will be acted on in an expedited manner,” Jack Liebau, the track's vice president, told the Los Angeles Times.