Affirmed provides a distance test for Can the Man

ARCADIA, Calif. – Can the Man is expected to be with the leaders at the top of the stretch in Saturday’s $100,000 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita. His speed should get him that far. It’s the final furlong that concerns trainer Bob Baffert.

“Distance-wise, we don’t know if he can handle it,” he said.

Owned by Kaleem Shah, Can the Man has not raced since winning the Speakeasy Stakes over six furlongs last October. He was taken out of training following that race and resumed workouts in March.

Last September, Can the Man finished fourth in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes here over 1 1/16 miles, the same distance as the Affirmed. In recent weeks, Can the Man has been training exceptionally quickly in the mornings, with four consecutive six-furlong bullet workouts, at Los Alamitos on May 9 and 16 and at Santa Anita on May 24 and 31. On May 31, Can the Man worked from the gate in 1:11.

“He’s got a lot of speed,” Baffert said.

Can the Man is one of eight entrants in the Affirmed for 3-year-olds, the ninth race on an 11-race program that begins at noon Pacific.

Can the Man, by Into Mischief, is one of three stakes winners in the field, joined by Rebranded, who won the Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park in December, and Forever Juanito, who won the Desert Code Stakes for 3-year-olds on the hillside turf course here May 3. Rebranded was second in the SunRay Park Casino Handicap over a mile in New Mexico on May 3.

The field includes two runners from the Santa Anita Derby in Big Tire, who was fifth, and Friendswith K Mill, who finished seventh. Friendswith K Mill was later fifth in the Grade 3 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs on April 26 and won an optional claimer over 1 1/16 miles here May 11.

Big Tire, trained by Mark Glatt, finished 10 lengths behind Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome in the Santa Anita Derby. Following that race, Big Tire was gelded, leading Glatt to expect a more focused horse in the Affirmed.

“I like his chances,” Glatt said. “The reason we gelded him is because he was racing a little spotty. We hope that gelding him will make a big change. I can’t say I’ve seen a tremendous change in the morning, but hopefully it will be different in the afternoon.”

Glatt said Big Tire could be a candidate for the $500,000 Los Alamitos Derby on July 5 with a good showing Saturday.

“He needs to run a solid top-three finish in the race,” he said.

The chances of Friendswith K Mill and Big Tire should be helped if Can the Man is joined near the front by Forever Juanito.

“It looks like there is enough of a pace scenario,” Glatt said. “He needs to have a little setup.”