Add Rockefeller to Baffert's list of proming juveniles
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Bob Baffert has two recent maiden race winners in Murray and Pinehurst bound for Monday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, a race he has won a record 14 times since 1996.
Baffert has another promising 2-year-old colt in Rockefeller, who won a maiden special weight in fine fashion on Saturday. Ridden by Abel Cedillo, Rockefeller dispute the early pace and pulled clear to win by 2 1/4 lengths as the 9-5 favorite. Rockefeller ran six furlongs in 1:11.18.
“We thought he was a good one and is bred to be a good one,” Baffert said. “We thought it would be too short for him. We’re pretty happy with him.”
Purchased for $750,000 as a yearling, Rockefeller is by Medaglia d’Oro and is out of Dance to Bristol, a seven-time stakes winner whose career was highlighted by a win in the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga in 2013.
Rockefeller could run in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes, a $300,000 race for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 1 that is a key prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 5.