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Classier Gives Baffert Fifth Straight Los Al Derby

Classier went wire-to-wire and resolutely held off stablemate Defunded to give trainer Bob Baffert his fifth straight win in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby Sunday. Sent off at 6-5, Classier was on the lead through fractions of :22.98 and :47.01. Defunded, the 3-5 favorite, rolled up to challenge the pacesetter after three-quarters in 1:11.08 and, while Classier began inching away in upper stretch, the favorite battled back in a stirring stretch battle to the wire. Classier refused to yield and earned his first graded victory in determined fashion.

“I waited until the eighth pole to ask him and when he saw [Defunded] he really dug in,” winning rider Mike Smith said. “This is a big colt with a lot to him and he is going to get even better.”

Baffert added, “I really thought–and the rider [Abel Cedillo] thought–Defunded had him the whole way. It was pretty exciting and I was really hoping for a dead heat because I've always wanted one of those in a stakes so you don't have to make that other call.

Classier went wire-to-wire to win his 6 1/2-furlong debut at Santa Anita last October and was immediately thrown into the deep end where he finished a well-beaten eighth in the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. After a stumbling start, he finished third behind The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) and Defunded while making his return to the races in the June 13 GIII Affirmed S. last time out.

Classier earned his start in Sunday's Los Al Derby with a half-mile work in :47 1/5 at Santa Anita last Thursday.

“I wasn't going to run [Classier] in this race,” Baffert admitted. “I talked to the ownership group and told them I was going to work him and if he worked well I'd run him. He worked very well, so we decided to go. We thought he'd be on the lead last time, but he stumbled leaving the gate and he really needed the race. He's going to improve off this. I can take my time with him now and figure out a spot because he is bred to be superstar.”

Pedigree Notes:

Breeder Mary Sullivan purchased Class Will Tell for $300,000 at the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The mare, a half-sister to the dam of multiple Group 1 placed Homerique (Exchange Rate), has a yearling filly by Union Rags and produced a colt by More Than Ready this year.

Classier's second dam, Conchita, produced a filly by Hard Spun last year and a filly by Ghostzapper this year. The Hard Spun filly sold for $210,000 to Determined Stud at last year's Keeneland November sale.

The winner's third dam, Desert Gold, produced Group 1 winner White Moonstone (Dynaformer).

Classier is the 36th graded stakes winner for Empire Maker and the 31st graded winner out of a Bernardini mare, but the Los Al Derby winner is the first graded winner by the late GI Belmont S. winner out of a mare by Bernardini.

Sunday, Los Alamitos
LOS ALAMITOS DERBY-GIII, $150,000, Los Alamitos, 7-4, 3yo,
1 1/8m, 1:49.15, ft.
1–CLASSIER, 122, c, 3, by Empire Maker
                1st Dam: Class Will Tell, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Conchita, by Cozzene
                3rd Dam: Desert Gold, by Seeking the Gold
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
'TDN Rising Star'. ($775,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC,
Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena
Farm LLC & Robert E. Masterson; B-Mary A Sullivan (KY); T-Bob
Baffert; J-Mike E. Smith. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-1,
$155,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Defunded, 122, g, 3, Dialed In–Wind Caper, by Touch Gold.
($210,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson,
& Paul Weitman; B-Athens Woods LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
$30,000.
3–Ingest, 122, g, 3, Square Eddie–Octogarian, by Rock Hard
Ten. O-Grant Alvernaz & Steve Ribeiro; B-Reddam Racing, LLC
(CA); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $18,000.
Margins: NO, 14, HF. Odds: 1.30, 0.60, 11.30.
Also Ran: It's My House, Back Ring Luck.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Gamine Tops Field Of Eight For Monday’s Great Lady M Stakes

Multiple Grade 1 winner Gamine heads a field of eight in the $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M Stakes Monday at Los Alamitos.

A Grade 2, the Great Lady M is for fillies & mares (3-year-olds) and up at 6 ½ furlongs. It is the eighth of nine races on closing day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival. Scheduled post time for the main event is 4:28 p.m.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for Michael Lund Petersen, Gamine has won seven of eight and earned $1,286,500.

A 4-year-old Into Mischief filly out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane, Gamine has four Grade 1 successes in three different states on her resume. She has earned those victories – the Acorn at Belmont Park, the Test at Saratoga, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland in 2020 and the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs earlier this year – by a combined 33 ½ lengths.

Baffert, who has won the Great Lady M. previously with Fantastic Style (2015) and Marley's Freedom (2018-2019), also entered Qahira.

Idle since finishing a distant second behind Gamine in the Grade 3 Las Flores April 4, the 5-year-old Cairo Prince mare has won half of her 10 races for Baoma Corporation and banked $249,400.

Out of the Bates Motel mare Motel Lass, Qahira is 1-for-1 at Los Alamitos. She won an optional claimer as the 3-5 choice during the 2019 Summer Thoroughbred Festival.

Edgeway will be aiming for her third consecutive victory for Hronis Racing LLC and trainer John Sadler.

The 4-year-old Competitive Edge filly out of the Stormin Fever mare Magical Solution followed a win in an optional claimer Feb. 7 at Santa Anita with a stakes success in the Carousel April 10 at Oaklawn Park.

Edgeway has won four of six and earned $307,200. She was runner-up in the Grade 3 Dogwood as a 3-year-old in her only prior start in a graded race.

Hronis Racing and Sadler also entered Candura, a lightly-raced 5-year-old Into Mischief mare. The gray, who is out of the Candy Ride mare Halloween Candy, has won three of four and banked $162,945. She is 2-for-2 in 2021 with both victories coming at Oaklawn Park, the most recent April 25.

Her win in California came in her career debut Aug. 22, 2018 going five furlongs on the Del Mar turf.

A 4-year-old Shanghai Bobby filly out of the Richter Scale mare Lady Dynasty, Dynasty of Her Own will seek her first graded victory for Tommy Town Thoroughbreds LLC and trainer Jonathan Wong.

The Kentucky bred has won seven of 11 and earned $194,148. She has been away since capturing a $34,980 allowance over the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields May 20.

Her only win in four tries on dirt came in the Borderplex Stakes at Sunland Park in New Mexico Jan. 26, 2020. In her lone graded stakes try, she finished fifth of six in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at 1 1/16 miles last year at Prairie Meadows.

Trained by Simon Callaghan for Kaleem Shah Inc., Bella Vita will be making her graded debut. A daughter of Bayern and the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat, the 4-year-old is 2-for-8 with earnings of $181,790. The California bred has been worse than third only once in her career.

Owned D K Racing LLC, Radley Equine Inc., breeder Helen Alexander and Ramona and Perry Bass II and trained by Dan Blacker, Eyes Open broke her maiden in her seventh career start May 23. The 4-year-old Street Sense filly out of the Bernardini mare Delightful mare has banked $56,920.

Road Rager will be making her first start in nearly 10 months for Samantha Siegel's Jay Em Ess Stable and trainer Brian Koriner.

The 5-year-old Quality Road mare was last seen finishing third in an optional claimer last Sept. 6 at Del Mar. Out of the Aggressive Chief mare She Is Raging, Road Rager has won twice in 13 attempts and banked $128,162.

From inside out, the field for the Great Lady M Stakes:

Candura, Tyler Baze rides, 119 pounds
Dynasty of Her Own, Ricardo Gonzalez, 119
Qahira, Abel Cedillo, 119
Edgeway, Flavien Prat, 119
Gamine, John Velazquez, 119
Bella Vita, Juan Hernandez, 119
Eyes Open, Edwin Maldonado, 119
Road Rager, Jessica Pyfer, 119

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Field Of Five Sophomores Go Forward For Sunday’s Los Alamitos Derby

Runner-up behind the talented California bred The Chosen Vron in the Affirmed June 13, Defunded will try for his first stakes success in the $150,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos Derby Sunday.

Restricted to 3-year-olds and scheduled for 1 1/8 miles, the Grade 3 will go as the fourth of nine races. Post time Sunday is 1 p.m. Scheduled post time for the main event is 2:28 p.m.

Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Defunded has a win in five starts and earnings of $140,700. He had the lead in the stretch in the Grade 3 Affirmed, but was unable to withstand the closing surge of The Chosen Vron while finishing 11 lengths of the rest of the field.

A gelded son of Dialed In and the Touch Gold mare Wind Caper, Defunded will be trying to give Baffert his fifth consecutive victory in the Los Alamitos Derby and his sixth in the last seven years. His half-dozen wins in the race since 2014 include Gimme Da Lute (2015), West Coast (2017), Once On Whiskey (2018), Game Winner (2019) and Uncle Chuck (2020).

Baffert also entered Classier, a distant third as the 7-5 favorite in the Affirmed.

Owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert Masterson, the Empire Maker colt out of the Bernardini mare Class Will Tell has one win in three starts and has earned $65,000.

Trained by Bob Hess, Jr. for Doug Gans, Gary Jacobs, Larry Katz and Kevin Riggs, It's My House returns to California after being eased over a sloppy surface in the $300,000 Texas Derby May 31 at Lone Star Park.

A son of Anthony's Cross and the Grand Reward mare Gerry's Reward, It's My House has won twice in six starts and banked $60,760. A second-out maiden winner Jan. 31 at Golden Gate Fields when trained by Jamey Thomas, the Florida bred cashed as the favorite in the Turf Paradise Derby March 12 for his other win in his initial race for Hess.

Owned by the Clarke M. Cooper Family Trust, Mia Familia Racing Stable and Wade Jacobsen and trained by John Sadler, who won the 2016 Los Alamitos Derby with Accelerate, Back Ring Luck will be seeking his first on the board finish in California.

The Malibu Moon gelding out of the Rahy mare Patti O'Rahy was eased in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby April 3, then was fourth and fifth in a pair of optional claimers May 15 and June 5 with the latter effort coming on turf.

Back Ring Luck won twice in five starts before shipping to this coast. He defeated $30,000 maidens at Churchill Downs last Nov. 13 when trained by W. Bret Calhoun, then won an optional claimer for trainer Al Cates March 5 at Oaklawn Park after being claimed out of his initial win.

A close fourth in the Snow Chief Stakes on turf June 19, Ingest will switch to the main track for owners Grant Alvernaz and Steve Ribeiro and trainer Doug O'Neill.

A son of Square Eddie and the Rock Hard Ten mare Octogarian, the gelding is 1-for-9 with a bankroll of $58,180. His lone win came at eight furlongs on turf last Sept. 26. He's yet to hit the board in three attempts on dirt.

From inside out, the field for the Los Alamitos Derby: Classier, Mike Smith rides, 122 pounds; It's My House, Edwin Maldonado, 122; Defunded, Abel Cedillo, 122; Back Ring Luck, Tyler Baze, 122 and Ingest, Juan Hernandez, 122.

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Los Alamitos Derby Won’t Be Run Saturday Due To Insufficient Entries

The Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby will not be run as originally scheduled Saturday, July 3.

The race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles will be brought back as an extra for Sunday, July 4 in hopes of drawing more entrants, so it could be run on the next-to-last day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Al.

Entries for the July 4 program will be taken Thursday, July 1.

Eight horses were nominated to the Los Alamitos Derby: Back Ring Luck, Classier, Defunded, Hudson Ridge, Ingest, It's My House, Mr. Impossible, and Mucho Del Oro.

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