Baeza strong in five-furlong work for Stephen Foster
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A relatively quiet and uneventful Tuesday morning at the Oklahoma training track suddenly became quite noteworthy shortly before 10 a.m. when Baeza, the final worker of the day, came on the track to breeze five furlongs from the half-mile pole in 1:01.06 as he continues preparations for the $2 million Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs on June 27.
Working in front of just a handful of onlookers over a track that had dried out nicely despite being inundated by rain the previous day, Baeza posted splits of 24.46 and 48.37 seconds from the half-mile marker to the wire, then continued strongly without need of any encouragement into the turn. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.32 while equipped in blinkers and working solo under his regular rider Neil Poznansky.
The work was easily the fastest of five at the distance over the Oklahoma track on Tuesday and the second for Baeza since his arrival in Saratoga following a troubled third-place finish in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill on May 1.
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Baeza, who was transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott following the passing of his previous trainer, John Shirreffs, earlier this winter, worked a near bullet and equally impressive half-mile in 48 here on May 16.
“Yesterday we had mud. So we waited and figured the track would be good today and that it would be real good after the second break, which is why we didn’t bring him out until so late,” Mott said from astride his pony just minutes after the work. “And it was.”
Mott was obviously quite impressed with what he saw from Baeza and compared the move favorably with his previous work over the same track 10 days earlier.
“He looked very good,” Mott enthused. “I think it was similar to last week. I told him [Poznansky] to let him go out around the turn, which he did. He really looks like a racehorse, doesn’t he? He’s got a lot of ability.”
On the surface, it would appear Mott is blessed with an embarrassment of riches in the older handicap division. He is pointing both reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty and Baeza to the Foster.
“I feel like Sovereignty has been very good to us. What more could you ask? But the position I’m in, I know I’m substituting for John Shirreffs, and we’ve got to do the best job we possibly can [with Baeza] as well,” Mott said. “That’s what we were hired to do. To do the best job we can with both horses.
“We were able to keep them separate for one race, but it’s starting to look like that’s going to be impossible moving forward.”
Zany to skip Acorn Stakes
Trainer Todd Pletcher reported Tuesday that Zany, who finished sixth as a very tepid 5-1 favorite in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1, will bypass the Grade 1 Acorn on June 5 to await the Grade 1 Coaching Club here seven weeks later.
“Everything is fine, I just thought she looked a little light and that a little more time would suit her well,” Pletcher explained. “She’ll train every day, just not breeze for a little bit, with the race not until July 25.”
Pletcher said that Luis Saez would, in all probability, have the mount aboard Powershift in the Belmont Stakes. Saez would be replacing Irad Ortiz Jr., who guided the lightly raced but talented 3-year-old to a popular and well-graded maiden win in the first race at Churchill on Kentucky Derby Day. Ortiz is the regular rider for Derby runner-up Renegade, who will be among the favorites in the Belmont.
“It will likely be Saez, assuming we’re happy [with Powershift] this week – and so far we are,” Pletcher noted.
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