Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will look to win the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney for the second straight year with different horses, as two-time Grade 1-winner Improbable will ship from California for the historic race for 4-year-olds and up this Saturday, Aug. 1, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Owned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club International, Improbable captured the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on June 6, netting a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Baffert, who won his first career Whitney last year with McKinzie, saw Improbable work seven furlongs in 1:25.80 over Del Mar's main track on Saturday.
Baffert said Improbable was originally a possibility for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 22 at Del Mar, but plans changed after Maximum Security's victory in Saturday's Grade 2 San Diego Handicap to mark his successful return from a five-month respite.
“He's coming,” Baffert said with a laugh from his California base on Sunday morning. “We were going to run him here in the Pacific Classic, but we wanted to see what Max was going to do yesterday. I think if Max laid an egg, we would have done that. But Max showed us the horse we all thought he was.”
Improbable started his career with three consecutive wins, including the Street Sense at Churchill Downs after breaking his maiden in September 2018. He capped his juvenile campaign with a five-length win in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity in December of that year, propelling him to the Triple Crown trail in 2019 which started with back-to-back runner-ups in the Grade 2 Rebel and Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
After being placed fourth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and running sixth in the Grade 1 Preakness, the City Zip colt won the Shared Belief in August at Del Mar before running fourth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby in September and fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November.
After an extensive sophomore campaign, Baffert did not bring Improbable back until April, with a second in the Oaklawn Mile before a 3 1/4-length score in the Gold Cup last month. Baffert said his charge is now ready to get back on the road.
“The only problem with shipping him is that he has issues in the starting gate, for some reason,” Baffert said. “He doesn't have [those issues] in California. But he's doing really well.”
Irad Ortiz, Jr., who rode him in last year's Kentucky Derby, is expected to have the return call in the Whitney, Baffert said.
McKinzie, who defeated a seven-horse field to win last year's Whitney while earning a 111 Beyer, will not bid for a repeat. But Baffert said a return engagement at the Spa is still a possibility with the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/4 miles on September 5 an option.
Maximum Security, who last year won the Grade 1 Haskell, at Monmouth Park, the Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Racetrack en route to an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old, could also run in the Woodward. A son of New Year's Day, Maximum Security has nine wins in 11 career starts, including six grade or group victories.
“I might run McKinzie in the [Grade 1] Bing Crosby here going six furlongs [August 1 at Del Mar] this weekend, or the Woodward. I'm not sure yet,” Baffert said. “It's either McKinzie at the Woodward or Max at the Woodward. It depends. You never know. We're keeping all our options open. We'll nominate him [Maximum Security] everywhere.”
Baffert will be well represented at another prestigious Saratoga race, with Uncle Chuck targeting the Grade 1, $1-million Runhappy Travers on August 8. A son of Uncle Mo, the lightly raced Uncle Chuck will enter the “Mid-Summer Derby” 2-for-2 in his career, winning his debut by seven lengths on June 12 at Santa Anita before dominating a higher caliber field by four lengths in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4.
Owned by Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman, Uncle Chuck was a $250,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland Association September Sale. He will now enter his first Grade 1 appearance against a field expected to include Grade 1 Belmont Stakes-winner Tiz the Law.
“He looks good. I mean, he's training right along and maturing,” said Baffert. “We know that Tiz the Law is just a tremendous racehorse, so we're looking forward to the matchup. I just like the way he's training.”
Uncle Chuck breezed six furlongs in 1:12.20 Sunday at Del Mar.
Baffert also said Eight Rings, who won the Grade 1 American Pharoah at 1 1/16 miles in September, is likely for the Grade 1, $300,000 Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy. The sophomore Empire Maker colt ended his 2019 running sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and ended a five-month layoff by running seventh in the Bachelor on April 25 at Oaklawn.
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