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Corniche Indicative Of Depth Of Baffert Juveniles

Smack in the middle of the two Grade 2 races on Saturday's program was a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint for 2-year-olds. And if racing fans were looking for a bridge of interest between the $200,000 John C. Mabee Stakes and the $250,000 Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby they got it.

Corniche, a $1.5 million purchase by Speedway Stables at the Ocala sale in April, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, drew clear shortly after the break from the gate; led by two lengths at the top of the stretch; extended the advantage via what the charts described as “an energetic hand ride” from jockey Mike Smith: and won by 4 ¼ lengths geared down in a time of 1:03.01

Speedway Stables is the nom du course of Peter Fluor of Houston, TX. His horse, Collected, won the 2017 TVG Pacific Classic.

Corniche was one of 33 2-year-olds Baffert nominated to Monday's $300,000 Grade 1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity. But Saturday's race represented an impressive debut for the Quality Road colt. And Baffert will have two others who also were impressive debut winners earlier in the meeting as representatives, Pinehurst and Murray, when he seeks a 15th Futurity victory in the penultimate race of the summer meeting.

The nomination deadline for both the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity and today's $300,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante was June 25 this year. And Baffert, always with an abundance of talented babies, takes a shotgun approach when the paperwork is due.

“We have to do it early, so I nominate a lot of them and see which ones are ready when the time comes,” Baffert said this morning.

Murray, a son of Street Sense who commanded $300,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, debuted with a 10 ¼-length victory at 5 ½ furlongs in 1:04.20 on July 25. Pinehurst, a $385,000 purchase at the same sale and for the same ownership group – SF Racing, Starlight Racing and partners – won his career opener by a half-length, covering five furlongs in :58 flat.

Baffert said Corniche came out of his race in fine fettle and future assignments will be determined in a few days.

“I wasn't surprised, I expected it,” Baffert said of the Corniche effort. “He was flying early and he kept flying late. The Futurity was coming up a little too quick for him, but we're excited about him like we are about several others. This is a really good group of 2-year-olds.”

The field for the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Pappacap (Joe Bravo, 3-1); Olympic Legend (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 12-1); Finneus (Tiago Pereira, 12-1); Pinehurst (Mike Smith, 5/2); Murray (Flavien Prat, 2-1), and American Xperiment (Umberto Rispoli, 5/2).

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Five Owners On The Verge Of Leaving Bob Baffert Over NYRA Ban, Legal Filing Reveals

According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered attorneys for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert to divulge specific names relating to his claim in a July 7 affidavit stating: “I have recently had conversations with other owners who have stated that they may move their horses to other trainers if the New York suspension continues.”

A one-page letter filed on Friday revealed five names: “Gavin Murphy of SF Bloodstock; Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing; Peter Fluor of Speedway Stable; Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables; and George Bolton.”

Judge Amon issued the order to reveal names of owners considering leaving Baffert's stable in response to the New York Racing Association's motion to strike the trainer's affidavit from the record.

Baffert filed suit against NYRA on June 14, nearly a month after the racing association notified the Hall of Fame trainer that he was temporarily banned from racing or stabling at NYRA tracks while the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission conducts its investigation into the post-race drug positive for Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first in the May 1 Kentucky Derby. Baffert is seeking a temporary and permanent injunction against the ban.

As defendant in the case, NYRA filed a memorandum of law on June 30 in opposition to Baffert's motion for preliminary injunction. The Jockey Club filed a brief on that same date as amicus curiae, or friend of the court, claiming that its role as keeper of the Stud Book gives it a “unique interest in ensuring that when Thoroughbreds enter the breeding shed (where they determine the future of the breed through progeny), they do so with records uninfluenced by the effects of medication.”

On July 7, attorneys for Baffert filed their own memorandum of law, which consisted of 434 pages and included an affidavit from the trainer. In the memo, Baffert's attorneys allege that NYRA has “vindictively” targeted the trainer utilizing “hypocrisy” and “backdoor” tactics. The filing also zeroes in on two legal arguments: that the ban violates the trainer's right to due process, and that NYRA has no authority to issue a ban.

That same filing also details the exodus of horses owned by WinStar Farm from Baffert's stable as an example of the type of harm that the ban will cause to the trainer's livelihood.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

Additional stories about Baffert's Kentucky Derby positive and ensuing legal battles, listed in order from most recent to the original story:

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Baffert Reveals Names of Owners Allegedly on Verge of Leaving Him

In response to an order from a federal judge for trainer Bob Baffert to reveal specifically which of his existing clients have told him they may pull horses from his care if his banishment by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is allowed to continue, Baffert's legal team on Friday provided the court with a list of five Thoroughbred owners who are allegedly considering splitting with the Hall of Fame conditioner.

According to a one-page letter filed electronically by attorney W. Craig Robertson just minutes before the judge's mandated noon (Eastern) deadline July 9, those on-the-verge owners are “Gavin Murphy of SF Bloodstock; Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing; Peter Fluor of Speedway Stable; Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables; and George Bolton.”

That disclosure comes on the heels of Baffert's publicly documented breakup with WinStar Farm, which has already pulled such elite-level Thoroughbreds as 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Country Grammer (Tonalist) from his California-based stable.

In a July 7 affidavit, Baffert stated that WinStar's reassigning of those horses was a “harm” that has “already occurred as a result of NYRA's ban,” and that “WinStar's move has and will continue to have the added effect of possibly encouraging other notable owners to do the same.”

Baffert's inability to pursue his chosen livelihood at New York's major Thoroughbred tracks is likely to be a key deciding factor in his lawsuit against NYRA in United States District Court (Eastern District of New York).

In a civil complaint filed by Baffert June 14, the seven-time

GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer is alleging that NYRA's banishment of him since May 17 violates his Fourteenth Amendment constitutional right to due process, and Baffert wants the court to overturn that ban.

NYRA's exclusion of Baffert from Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack was mandated the association in the wake of five positive drug tests in horses Baffert has trained over the last 12 months.

Three of those violations occurred in Grade I stakes. The most recent drug positive, for betamethasone in Medina Spirit (Protonico) after that Baffert trainee won the May 1 Kentucky Derby, has yet to be adjudicated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Churchill Downs Inc., however, has already barred Baffert from participating at any of the gaming corporation's five Thoroughbred tracks for a period of two years.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon's mandate for Baffert to assign specific names to his written claim that “I have recently had conversations with other owners who have stated that they may move their horses to other trainers if the New York suspension continues,” arose out of a back-and-forth verbal dispute between parties in a July 8 court conference call.

On Thursday, counsel for NYRA had argued that the plaintiff's 434-page “memorandum in further support of a preliminary injunction,” which was filed with the court only five days prior to a July 12 hearing for the case, violated established legal procedure because it included new information that the NYRA did not have time to investigate.

NYRA had already filed its own memo in opposition to overturning its ban on June 30, and on Thursday wanted the plaintiff's entire July 7 reply filing (or at least Baffert's affidavit included within) to be stricken or disregarded.

The judge denied NYRA's oral motion to strike Baffert's reply affidavit, but Amon did order Baffert to divulge the identities of the clients who were allegedly ready to break with him because their horses were being denied access to New York's premier tracks.

Amon had also recommended on Thursday that Baffert be in her New York courtroom for Monday's 11 a.m. hearing in case he is needed to testify under oath.

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Classier Noses Out Defunded In Los Alamitos Derby

Even though several of the country's top 3 year olds call the West Coast home, Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif. had a challenging time trying to come up with enough starters for Sunday's Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby. With richer stakes elsewhere luring a number of possible entries away, the track postponed the race 24 hours to allow additional time for entries and came up with a field of five, including Bob Baffert trainees Classier and Defunded, who went two-three last time out in the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Sunday, the Baffert horses improved on that performance, going one-two in the G3 Los Alamitos Derby.

The race was a straightforward one from the start. Classier took the lead from the break, striding out to a length and a quarter lead over It's My House and Defunded, with Ingest and Back Ring Luck a length and a half back. The field maintained their running positions through the backstretch, with Abel Cedillo on Defunded waiting for the final turn to start bidding for the lead.

After running on easy lead throughout, Mike Smith and Classier had plenty left for his stretch run and challenge from his stablemate. In the straightaway, Defunded closed the gap with Classier but was unable to pass his fellow Baffert trainee, coming within a nose of Classier at the wire. With this victory in the G3 Los Alamitos Derby, Classier earns his first stakes win of his career. Ingest, It's My House, and Back Ring Luck rounded out the field of five.

Find this race's chart here.

The short field meant no show wagering at Los Alamitos. Classier paid $4.60 and $2.20. Defunded paid $2.10.

Mike Smith knew Classier had plenty of potential in only his fourth start. “I waited until the eighth pole to ask him and when he saw (Defunded) he really dug in. This is a big colt with a lot to him and he is going to get even better.''

Baffert, who earned his fifth straight win in this race, was glad that he started Classier in the G3 Derby despite beating fellow trainee Defunded. “I wasn't going to run (Classier) in this race. 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 (:47 1/5 half-mile July 1 at Santa Anita), so we decided to go. 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. We thought he'd be on the lead last time, but he stumbled leaving the gate and he really needed the race (the Grade 3 Affirmed June 13). 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.''

Classier is a 3-year-old colt owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm, and Robert Masterson. He was sired by Empire Maker out of the Bernardini mare Class Will Tell. Bred in Kentucky by Mary Sullivan, Classier was consigned by Lantern Hill Farm and purchased for $775,000 by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables at the Keeneland September 2019 Yearling Sale. Sunday's win improves Classier to two wins in four lifetime starts for total winnings of $155,000.

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