Abel Tasman seems fine after Zenyatta flop, Baffert says

ARCADIA, Calif. – Abel Tasman, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2017, emerged from a shocking fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita with no sign of injury, trainer Bob Baffert said Monday.

Baffert said Abel Tasman was “a little quiet” and that the 4-year-old filly underwent a routine blood test Monday.

“Physically, she’s fine,” Baffert said. “We’ll know more when we get the results back.

“Her temperature was a little elevated. I think she’s fighting something off.”

Baffert said that a virus has recently affected some horses in his stable. On Saturday, Mother Mother was scratched from the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies because of illness.

In the Zenyatta, Abel Tasman was the 1-10 favorite in a field of six. She bobbled at the start and raced at the back of the field throughout. Abel Tasman was beaten 10 1/2 lengths by the winner, the Baffert-trained Vale Dori.

Baffert said a warm afternoon, with temperatures in the high 80s, may have played a role.

“I don’t know what it was,” he said. “Maybe the heat got to her. She was flat as a pancake.”

Abel Tasman earned a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 with her wins in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park in June and Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 25. The BC Distaff remains a goal for her, Baffert said.

Vale Dori won for the first time since May 2017 and earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Distaff. Baffert said the 6-year-old Vale Dori will have her final start in the BC Distaff and will be bred in 2019.