San Felipe Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert’s Prep Plans: Life Is Good To San Felipe, Freedom Fighter To Gotham

Two of Bob Baffert's four Triple Crown contenders worked at Santa Anita Monday morning: undefeated Sham Stakes winner Life Is Good going five furlongs in 1:00.80, breezing, for the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, while stablemate Freedom Fighter went four furlongs in :48.60.

A son of Violence, Baffert said Freedom Fighter will make his next start in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct under Manny Franco. Freedom Fighter was runner-up in the San Vicente Stakes on Feb. 6 to stablemate Concert Tour.

Both the San Felipe and the Gotham will be run on March 6.

“He went extremely well,” Baffert said of Life Is Good, a son of Into Mischief owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm.

Baffert also was pleased with Freedom Fighter, who stretches out from the seven-furlong San Vicente to the one-turn mile of the Gotham which, like the San Felipe, offers 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner and 20, 10, five to the horses finishing second through fourth.

Baffert also worked Eclipse Award champion female sprinter Gamine “an easy half” in 50.20.

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Life is Good On Track for San Felipe

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Life is Good (Into Mischief) tuned up for an expected start in the Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S. with a five-furlong work in 1:00.80 (4/33) at Santa Anita Monday morning.

“He went extremely well,” trainer Bob Baffert said of the 3-year-old colt.

Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following a debut win at Del Mar last November, Life is Good is now two-for-two after opening his sophomore campaign with a win in the Jan. 2 GIII Sham S.

Also working Monday from the Baffert barn, Freedom Fighter (Violence) went four furlongs in :48.60 (11/66). The 3-year-old colt, a first-out victor at Del Mar last August, returned to finish second in the Feb. 6 GII San Vicente S. He is expected to make his next start in the Mar. 6 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct.

Both the San Felipe and the Gotham offer 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, and 20, 10, five to the horses finishing second through fourth.

The Baffert-trained Gamine (Into Mischief), recently crowned Eclipse champion female sprinter, also worked Monday at Santa Anita, covering four furlongs in an easy :50.20 (48/66). The 4-year-old was most recently seen winning the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint.

In other news from Santa Anita, the Arcadia track announced Monday that it has increased the purse of the China Doll S. to be run Mar. 6 from $75,000 to $100,000. Santa Anita will also raise purses on all overnight races on that day's Big 'Cap card by $15,000 per race.

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Will The Great One Help O’Neill Score A Kentucky Derby Hat Trick?

Doug O'Neill hopes to win his third Kentucky Derby–all in the past nine years–come the first Saturday in May.

The 52-year-old Michigander won the 2012 Run for the Roses with I'll Have Another and in 2016 with 2020's leading freshman sire Nyquist.

O'Neill currently has two sophomores listed in Pool 3 of the 24 Kentucky Derby Future Wager categories, Hot Rod Charlie and The Great One, each offered at 20-1 on the morning line.

The Great One, a Kentucky-bred colt by Nyquist who is owned in-part by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson's ERJ Racing Stable, comes off a smashing 14-length one mile maiden score here on Jan. 23 and is being pointed to the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on March 6.

Second, beaten a nose in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 19, The Great One earned a 92 Beyer Speed figure in his maiden triumph.

The Great One worked six furlongs at Santa Anita on Saturday morning in 1:15.80, while Hot Rod Charlie went four furlongs in :51.20.

Of the 24 categories listed for Pool 3 in the KDFW, horses in eight of them (better than 33 percent) call Santa Anita home.

They are Concert Tour, Freedom Fighter and Medina Spirit, each at 20-1, and Life Is Good, 8-1, all trained by Bob Baffert; Dream Shake, 20-1, Peter Eurton; Hot Rod Charlie and The Great One, each 20-1, O'Neill; and Roman Centurian, 30-1, Simon Callaghan.

Six of the last nine Kentucky Derby winners have been based in Southern California, five at Santa Anita: Authentic, 2020; Justify, 2018; Nyquist, 2016; American Pharoah, 2015; and I'll Have Another, 2012.

California Chrome, winner of the Run for the Roses in 2014, was headquartered at Los Alamitos.

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O’Neill Has Plenty Of Triple Crown Horsepower With Hot Rod Charlie, The Great One

Santa Anita training leader Doug O'Neill was more than pleased with Hot Rod Charlie's 3-year-old debut in Saturday's Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at the Arcadia, Calif., track, in which he ran a game third to Medina Spirit, beaten a neck and a nose for all the money.

“Hot Rod Charlie came out of the race in great shape,” O'Neill said. “We're so proud of him. He got a 91 Beyer in his return and ran a real game race against other really top 3-year-olds.

“I haven't really decided where we'll go next, but we're excited to get him back and kind of bridge the gap from where he left off in the Breeders' Cup (Juvenile, when second at 94-1 to Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old male of 2020 Essential Quality).”

Meanwhile, 14-length maiden winner The Great One is set for the G2 San Felipe Stakes on March 6. “He's doing super,” O'Neill said.

O'Neill also has Brilliant Cut ticketed for Saturday's G3 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile. The daughter of Speightstown will be making her first start beyond seven furlongs.

“She's doing well and acts like two turns won't be a problem, but you never know until you try,” O'Neill said.

“She's in good form right now.”

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