Baffert has plenty of horse with maiden winner Cornucopian

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Cornucopian made a statement on the Rebel undercard at Oaklawn Park on Sunday, when he won his career debut by more than five lengths with a Beyer Speed Figure of 101. It’s the third-best number put up by a 3-year-old so far this year in North America.

“Down the stretch there, it was a wow kind of race,” trainer Bob Baffert said.

Cornucopian broke sharply under Irad Ortiz Jr. and proceeded to set fractions of 21.86 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.50 for the half-mile before continuing on to cover six furlongs on a fast track in 1:09.02.

“He really doesn’t want to be on the lead and run like that, but I told Irad just get him away from there because sometimes you go there you don’t break and get shuffled back – and its first time out. But he broke great. He sent him out there and he came back and he said, ‘He doesn’t want to do that. He wants to cruise and then turn it on,’ you know. But I was very impressed with him. But we knew he was something special.”

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Cornucopian is a son of Into Mischief and a half-brother to Guarana, who was a Grade 1 winner around both one and two turns. Cornucopian was a $1.1 million yearling purchase at the Keeneland September sale in 2023. He is from the female family of Sky Beauty.

Cornucopian races for a partnership that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, and Bashor. Baffert said plans going forward are to be determined for the horse who was traveling back to his Santa Anita base Tuesday.

“We’ll just see,” Baffert said. “We’re not in a big rush.

“He’s a good one.”

Booth pops 105 Beyer

Booth popped a meet-best Beyer Speed Figure of 105 on Monday at Oaklawn for his win in the $145,000 Commodore, an overnight stakes for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs. He set fractions of 21.93 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.98 for the half-mile before covering the distance on a fast track in 1:08.64.

Booth is a son of champion sprinter Mitole and a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Bright Future. Steve Asmussen trains the horse, who topped the meet’s previous high Beyer of 103 earned by Banishing. Booth’s number is tied for sixth best so far this year in North America.

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