Baffert Favored in Santa Ynez

The GII Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita Sunday looks like Bob Baffert’s race to lose as he saddles four of the seven runners in the field, including Grade I winner Varda (Distorted Humor). A debut winner at Del Mar Aug. 30, the $700,000 OBSAPR buy was second to recently retired stablemate Princess Noor (Not This Time) when navigating two turns in the Sept. 26 GII Chandelier S. in Arcadia. The bay rallied to victory at odds of 17-1 in the Dec. 5 GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos, defeating re-opposing barnmate Kalypso (Brody’s Cause) and Nasreddine (Nyquist). Kalypso captured the Oct. 18 Anoakia S. at Santa Anita prior to the Starlet and sheds the blinkers for this sophomore bow.

Baffert also saddles Gary and Mary West homebred Exotic West (Hard Spun), a debut winner at Del Mar Nov. 21; and Frosteria (Frosted), who has finished second in all three of her starts, most recently going a mile at Los Alamitos Dec. 13.

Rounding out the field are Anoakia and Desi Arnaz S. runner-up Queengol (Flashback); and Brilliant Cut (Speightstown), who was claimed by trainer Doug O’Neill for $50,000 out of a winning effort at Del Mar Nov. 20.

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Baffert Has Four Of Seven Starters In Sunday’s Santa Ynez

In a race that as much as anything else underscores the depth of the Bob Baffert stable, his stakes winning Kalypso, who will shorten up out of a second-place effort in a Grade 1 stakes, appears the tepid choice among a field of seven sophomore fillies going seven panels in Sunday's Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Baffert, who will send out a total of four fillies in the Santa Ynez, has the one-two finishers from an oddly-run G1 Los Alamitos Starlet on Dec. 5, as his heavily favored Princess Noor, who appeared to be well on her way to victory, was suddenly pulled up at the top of the lane, leaving Kalypso on a lonely lead until rundown by stablemate Varda, who won by 1 ½ lengths at 18-1.

Kalypso, a $240,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling purchase in July of 2019, was an impressive gate to wire winner of the ungraded Anoakia Stakes going six furlongs two starts back and will likely go favored in the Santa Ynez, despite the fact she was second to Varda in the Starlet.  In what will be her fifth career start, Kalypso, a Kentucky-bred filly by Brody's Cause, will be ridden for the first time by Joel Rosario.

A handy 3 ¼-length first out maiden winner going six furlongs Aug. 30, Varda came back to be a well beaten second by Princess Noor in the G2 Chandelier Stakes at a mile and one sixteenth Sept. 26.  In her second time around two turns, she lagged early in the Starlet prior to picking up the pieces late.  Owned by Baoma Corporation, Varda, a New York-bred daughter of Distorted Humor, was purchased for $700,000 at the Ocala Breeders Sales Co.'s Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in 2020.  She has two wins and a second and will be ridden for the fourth consecutive time by Drayden Van Dyke.

Baffert's third entrant is the Gary and Mary West homebred Exotic West, who showed good speed, battled throughout and seemed to find her best stride late in breaking her maiden at Del Mar Nov. 21 going 6 ½ furlongs at first asking by a half length as the 2-1 favorite with Abel Cedillo up.

Although still a maiden following second-place finishes in all three of her previous starts, Baffert's Frosteria, a Godolphin homebred filly by Frosted, earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure when second going a flat mile on Dec. 13 and thus holds the best last out Beyer in the field.  With Cedillo riding Exotic West, Frosteria, who sprinted in her first two starts, will be ridden for the first time by Mike Smith.

John Sadler's Queengol, second as the 5-2 favorite to Kalypso two starts back in the Anoakia and most recently a well beaten second in a  6 ½ furlong stakes at Del Mar Nov. 14, rates a fighting chance with Flavien Prat aboard. Michael McCarthy's Nasreddine, third, beaten 5 ½ lengths in the Starlet, would appear to be a live longshot with Tiago Pereira up.

Claimed out of a half length win going six furlongs for a maiden $50,000 claiming tag Nov. 20 at Del Mar, Doug O'Neill will roll the dice with Brilliant Cut, a daughter of Champion Sprinter Speightstown.

G2 SANTA YNEZ WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9  Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

  1. Brilliant Cut—Ricky Gonzalez—120
  2. Nasreddine—Tiago Pereira—120
  3. Exotic West—Abel Cedillo—120
  4. Queengol—Flavien Prat—120
  5. Varda—Drayden Van Dyke—124
  6. Frosteria—Mike Smith—120
  7. Kalypso—Joel Rosario—122

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Brody’s Cause Filly Graduates in Anoakia

Kalypso broke her maiden in stakes company with a front-running score in the Anoakia S. Sunday at Santa Anita. The chestnut filly strode out to the early lead and was in hand through a quarter in :22.17 and a half :45.14. Three lengths in front with furlong to run, Kalypso was never threatened and sailed under the wire 2 1/4 lengths in front to become the second black-type winner for her freshman sire (by Giant’s Causeway).

“When you ride for Bob [Baffert], he just says, ‘Break well and play the break,'” said winning rider Abel Cedillo. “I knew she had speed, so she broke really sharp and I just took that. She finished really strong and she galloped out really strong too. I think she did it pretty well.”

Kalypso was third behind subsequent GI Del Mar Debutante runner-up Forest Caraway (Bodemeister) and Debutante third-place finisher Illumination in her 5 1/2-furlong debut at Del Mar Aug. 15 and had to settle for second behind Queengol after setting the pace over that same track and distance Sept. 5.

“We’ve been wanting to run her long, but we couldn’t get a race to go,” Baffert said. “She got sick after Del Mar, so we took our time with her. She’s been training well and she’s changed a lot. We’ll stretch her out next time.”

Malibu Cove has a yearling filly by Hit it a Bomb who sold for $4,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. The mare, a full-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Prospective and to the dam of this year’s GIII Bashford Manor S. third-place finisher Herd Immunity (Union Rags), also has a weanling by Mor Spirit and she was bred back to Jimmy Creed. Spendthrift’s B. Wayne Hughes purchased the winner’s second dam, Spirited Away, for $290,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling in 2005. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

ANOAKIA S., $77,950, Santa Anita, 10-18, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10.30, ft.
1–KALYPSO, 118, f, 2, by Brody’s Cause
                1st Dam: Malibu Cove, by Malibu Moon
                2nd Dam: Spirited Away, by Awesome Again
                3rd Dam: Cape North, by Capote
($240,000 Ylg ’19 FTKJUL). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN.
O-Rockingham Ranch and David A Bernsen LLC; B-Spendthrift
Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Abel Cedillo. $46,500. Lifetime
Record: 3-1-1-1, $64,100.
2–Queengol, 120, f, 2, Flashback–Nechez Dawn, by Indian
Charlie. ($22,000 Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $90,000 2yo ’20 OBSMAR).
O-Saragol Stable Corp. & Johana Viana; B-John R. Penn (KY);
T-John W. Sadler. $15,500.
3–Illumination, 118, f, 2, Medaglia d’Oro–Light the City, by
Street Sense. ($900,000 Ylg ’19 FTSAUG). O-George Bolton,
Peter & Karin Leidel, Barry Lipman, & Kerri Radcliffe; B-Breeze
Easy, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $9,300.
Margins: 2 1/4, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 4.80, 1.20, 6.10.
Also Ran: Forest Caraway, Needless to Say.

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