A $3.55 million 2-year-olds in training sale purchase last May, trainer Bob Baffert's Hejazi, idle since Oct. 8, served notice he's ready for the Kentucky Derby trail as he broke his maiden in impressive fashion on Sunday at Santa Anita.
After taking serious pace pressure from his rail post, the colt won by 1 1/4 lengths and stopped the clock in 1:14.58 for 6½ furlongs on track listed as good.
Sent from the gate with Mike Smith aboard, Hejazi, a New York-bred colt by Bernardini out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare G Note, was shadowed by the John Shirreffs-trained Sully to the top of the lane through fractions of :21.97, :44.28 and 1:08.41 and shook clear three sixteenths of a mile from home while holding stablemate Worcester at bay late.
“We gave him some time, gave him a chance to reboot,” said Baffert of Hejazi, who had been idle since finishing a well-beaten third going 1 1/16 miles in the American Pharoah (G1) Oct. 8 at Santa Anita. “We wanted to get some weight back on him. We put him through a pretty ambitious (three-race sequence). Now he's got a chance…He's got his weight back on, and Mike got him to relax a little bit. Today was the day. Once I saw him out there cruising… . We're gonna have fun with him.”
Second, while favored in a pair of maiden sprints at Del Mar on Sept. 10 and Aug. 20, Hejazi was off as the heavy 1-2 favorite in a field of seven sophomores and paid $3 for the victory.
Owned by Zedan Racing Stables Inc., Hejazi picked up $40,200 for the win, and while Baffert did not indicate what's planned for his next start, it's expected he'll stretch out for the second time in what will be his fourth start.
First-time starter Worcester, the second of two Baffert trainees in the field, was an attentive third early under Juan Hernandez and finished like a horse who will relish a route of ground. Off at 8-1, he finished 3 ½ lengths in front of Sully, who tired through the drive under Victor Espinoza.
The post ‘Today Was The Day’: $3.55-Million Purchase Hejazi Wires Maiden Field In Breakthrough At Santa Anita appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
