Baffert barn on serious roll
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Bob Baffert can hardly lose at Los Alamitos this summer.
On Sunday, the Baffert-trained March of Time ran to expectations with a win in an allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs. For Baffert, March of Time was his fifth winner from seven starters in six races through the first six days of the nine-day Los Alamitos meeting.
Baffert’s only losses came with the first-time starter Sudeikis, who finished third behind expensive stablemate Faran in a maiden race on Saturday, and Cipriani, who was fourth in an allowance on Sunday.
Baffert won the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby for the 10th consecutive year on Saturday with the maiden Sabino Canyon. Ridden by Ricky Gonzalez, in his first career stakes win for Baffert, Sabino Canyon ($5.60) closed from third on the turn to win by a half-length over 3-5 Start the Ride.
Sabino Canyon had his third start in the Los Alamitos Derby. He was last of six in a maiden race on turf at Santa Anita on March 20 and fourth of six in a maiden race on dirt there on May 22.
Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Sabino Canyon was nominated to the Los Alamitos Derby on June 18 and entered after a maiden race failed to draw sufficient entries, Baffert said.
“I knew they were looking for horses for” the Los Alamitos Derby, Baffert said. “The first time I ran him two turns on turf, I needed to give him some experience. I think Ricky Gonzalez rode a great race. He sat there and waited for him to go.”
Faran, purchased for $3.4 million at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale, won a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:16.74 as the 3-5 favorite.
Umberto Rispoli rode Faran, the jockey’s first mount since sustaining leg injuries in a spill at Gulfstream Park in January. Faran was Rispoli’s first win with Baffert in 17 mounts.
“He wasn’t quite cranked up,” Baffert said. “I wanted to get a race into him. The maiden race came up. When they come up, you have to enter. He’s real green and he’s still a little soft. He won on class. It was good to see that I finally got a win with Rispoli.”
March of Time, a 5-year-old horse by Justify, won his first start since January 2025 on Sunday, paying $3.40. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, March of Time rallied wide to reach the front in the final furlong, winning by 1 3/4 lengths.
March of Time races for the partnership of Baffert’s wife, Jill, and the families of Major League Baseball players Alex Bregman of the Chicago Cubs and Walker Buehler of the San Diego Padres.
This weekend, Baffert plans to start Nooni in Saturday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos. The prospective field is led by Sweet Azteca, who has won the last two runnings. Nooni has not raced since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos in December 2024.
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