Baffert sends out trio seeking ninth straight Los Alamitos Derby; $114,292 pick five carryover

The colts Nevada Beach and Varney and the new gelding Tiz Secure give Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert an outstanding chance to continue his stranglehold on the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday.

Baffert has won the last eight runnings of the Los Alamitos Derby and has three of the five runners on Saturday in a race that has annually struggled for entries. The race has drawn four or five runners each year since 2018.

Aside from the Baffert trio, It’s a Factor, trained by Antonio Garcia, and Rank, trained by Doug O’Neill, are the other runners in the 1 1/8-mile Los Alamitos Derby.

One of the five will become a stakes winner for the first time, and bettors will understandably focus on the Baffert trio.

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“It will be interesting to see what they do,” Baffert said. “They’re all moving forward.”

Nevada Beach, the mount of Juan Hernandez, will be favored in his third start. After winning a maiden race at a mile at Santa Anita on April 19, Nevada Beach was second by 1 3/4 lengths to stablemate Gaming in the Affirmed Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on June 8.

“He’s improving and that’s what you want to see,” Baffert said earlier this week.

Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Nevada Beach drew the outside post and is likely to have a stalking trip.

Varney, the easy winner of a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles at Pimlico on May 17 in his fourth start, is expected to lead. Tiz Secure, third in an allowance race on a sealed and sloppy track at Churchill Downs in his last appearance on May 3, tends to race from slightly off the pace.

Tiz Secure was gelded in the days after his loss at Churchill. “I think he needed it,” Baffert said.

Tiz Secure was fourth of six in his stakes debut in the Pasadena Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in March.

Baffert described his trio as late-developing prospects compared to the stable’s more high-profile runners who ran in leading races for 3-year-olds earlier this year.

“They’re behind the ones that were running early,” he said. “This is the last chance to run against 3-year-olds.”

Aside from the Los Alamitos Derby, the only summertime dirt race for open company 3-year-olds in Southern California is the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes at a mile at Del Mar on Aug. 31.

A Los Alamitos Derby win by It’s a Factor or Rank would be a surprise.

It’s a Factor has won once in 13 starts and was third in an allowance race for California-bred milers on turf at Santa Anita on May 11. Rank, third by 2 1/2 lengths in the Affirmed Stakes, is winless in 13 starts.

Baffert nominated Gaming to the Los Alamitos Derby, but said the colt will start in an undetermined race in July. Gaming won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last September and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar last November.

* Saturday's card will start with a carryover of $114,292 in the early pick five after the bet went unhit Friday. The pick five is a 50-cent minimum wager and has a takeout rate of 14 percent. It begins in Saturday’s first race. Post time is 1 p.m.

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