Baffert holds all the cards in American Pharoah
?q=100)
ARCADIA, Calif. – Despite summerlike temperatures this week in the high 90s, unmistakable signs are that autumn has arrived at Santa Anita – a meet loaded with Breeders’ Cup prep races, including five Saturday, and graded stakes for 2-year-olds with one trainer’s name all over them.
The first and last 2-year-old stakes Saturday go through Bob Baffert. He trains four of the eight fillies in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf, race 3; he trains the key entrants in race 9, the Grade 1 American Pharoah, a race he has won a record 12 times.
Sandwiched between the Win and You’re In juvenile races are three stakes with Breeders’ Cup implications. The $100,000 Speakeasy for BC Juvenile Turf Sprint hopefuls is race 4; Sweet Azteca, early favorite for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, runs in the Grade 3 Chillingworth, race 7; and females run long on turf in the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive, race 8, a Win and You’re In for the BC Filly and Mare Turf.
The best horse on the card is Sweet Azteca, but the best races are for 2-year-olds, including the American Pharoah. If it’s an autumn Grade 1 for juvenile colts in California, chances are the winner will come from one particular stable.
Baffert, who won the American Pharoah five of the last six years, starts three Saturday – Getaway Car, Citizen Bull, and Emerald Bay. Gaming, the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity winner also trained by Baffert, will skip the American Pharoah and go straight into the BC Juvenile. Even when his top horses drop out, others are ready.
Baffert-trained Adare Manor is retired and out of the BC Distaff; Grade 1 winner Speed Boat Beach is out of the BC Sprint. “I ran out of time,” Baffert said this week. But his deep stable includes Chillingworth entrant Hope Road, half the Oak Leaf field, and live contenders in the American Pharoah.
The 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah is the top stakes Saturday. Favorites won the American Pharoah eight of the last 10 years, seven at odds-on. With Gaming absent, favoritism could go to Citizen Bull or McKinzie Street. But the route stakes is a good spot for Getaway Car to bounce back. He crushed his first two sprint starts, then finished a disappointing fourth in the Del Mar Futurity.
“He went real fast early and sort of emptied out,” Baffert said. “I’m taking the blinkers off of him so he’ll relax a little bit better. He’s actually been working really well without blinkers.”
Juan Hernandez rides Getaway Car, who won his debut and Grade 3 Best Pal at Del Mar by leading gate to wire. He is a potential pacesetter in the American Pharoah, even without blinkers.
Sired by Curlin, Getaway Car is stretching to two turns. Baffert said, “I don’t think he’s going to have a problem with it.” Getaway Car has worked exceptionally well at Santa Anita.
Citizen Bull won his debut at 5 1/2 furlongs, followed by a better-than-looked third as the favorite in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity. Citizen Bull lagged, got hung four wide on the turn, loomed, and sputtered. He finished four lengths behind runner-up McKinzie Street.
“I think he just got a little tired,” Baffert said. “Mike Smith rode him for the first time and got to know him.”
Citizen Bull is making his third start and first around two turns. He was favored in the Del Mar Futurity based on his 84 Beyer debut and subsequent work in which he was best over Gaming.
Emerald Bay is Baffert’s third wheel. He was dusted by McKinzie Street in his runner-up sprint debut, then stretched to a mile and won in a slow 1:38.99.
“He’s a horse that’s maturing. He still hasn’t filled into his big frame,” Baffert said. “Distance is going to be all right, but he’s going to have to be ridden a certain way. I don’t think he wants to chase.”
Antonio Fresu rides Emerald Bay, who could take back early and make one run late.
McKinzie Street followed his fast debut victory with a creditable runner-up finish in the Del Mar Futurity. Kazushi Kimura rides; Tim Yakteen is his trainer.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.