Arabian Knight wows 'em with fast debut victory
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A day after his Cave Rock got beat in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, trainer Bob Baffert unleashed a potential future star in Arabian Knight, who lived up to his $2.3 million price tag Saturday by winning his debut by 7 1/4 lengths at Keeneland.
Showing speed right out of the gate under John Velazquez, Arabian Knight ($3.52) carved out splits of 22.47 seconds for the quarter, 45.78 for the half-mile and 1:09.83 for six furlongs. Arabian Knight, a son of Uncle Mo bought out of the OBS 2-year-old in-training sale in April, covered the seven furlongs in 1:21.98, defeating 10 rivals.
“We’ve always been very high on him,” said Baffert, who trains Arabian Knight for Amr Zedan, the same owner as Medina Spirit. “That’s why we bought him. I told Johnny, ‘Remember you used to ride Uncle Mo?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘You’re riding Uncle Mo today. Ride him like that.’ ”
In 2010, Uncle Mo won his career debut at Saratoga by 14 1/4 lengths and would go on to win the Champagne and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to be crowned 2-year-old champion.
“He’s a good horse,” Baffert said of Arabian Knight. “He does it light, he does it easily. Pretty exciting. I knew he was going to run really well, but I thought Cave Rock couldn’t get beat, either.”
On Friday, Cave Rock finished second to Forte in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Cave Rock had won his first three starts, including the Grade 1 American Pharoah and Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity.
Baffert said he was unsure what might be next for Arabian Knight, though the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 10 seems logical. Baffert has won that race 13 times.
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Last year, Messier finished second for Baffert in the Los Alamitos Futurity. In Saturday’s second race at Keeneland, an allowance race, Messier made his first start since the Kentucky Derby and finished last at 4-5 in a field of 11.
Messier was vanned off, though he did not appear to be in distress. He bled, according to the Equibase chart.
- additional reporting by Nicole Russo
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