ARCADIA, Calif. – A winter preview of California 3-year-old colts for 2023 begins with predictable clarity – juvenile star Cave Rock on a list dominated by Bob Baffert. “We have some nice 2-year-olds turning 3,” the trainer said in December. It was an understatement. Baffert’s 3-year-old roster is once again deep and includes 18 named in this preview. The best is Cave Rock, a two-time Grade 1 winner and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. “Cave Rock, I gave him a break,” Baffert said. “He’s here [at Santa Anita]. He never left. He’s just in light training. I’m trying to make the Rebel; it’s going to be tight.” :: DRF New Year Sale: Save up to 50% on handicapping essentials - DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more! The Grade 2, $1 million Rebel, which Baffert has won eight times, is Feb. 25 at Oaklawn Park. Baffert expects Cave Rock to come around quickly after a 3-for-4 juvenile campaign that included Grade 1 wins in the Del Mar Futurity and American Pharoah at Santa Anita. “It doesn’t take long to get them ready,” Baffert said referring to 3-year-olds who gained seasoning at 2. “They have such a bottom on them, these horses get ready really quick.” Preseason clarity is not certain to continue, however. Cave Rock normally would be a top candidate for the Kentucky Derby, but Churchill Downs disallowed Baffert from starting there; his trainees cannot earn Derby points in prep races. Barring developments, the only way Cave Rock or any current Baffert trainee can earn points and start in the Derby is if they change trainers. Last year, Taiba and Messier transferred from Baffert to trainer Tim Yakteen before finishing one-two in the Santa Anita Derby and unplaced in the Kentucky Derby. Taiba and Messier later returned to Baffert. This year, Yakteen enters winter with a Kentucky Derby prospect he trained from the outset. Practical Move won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 17, and Yakteen plans two starts before the Derby. “He ran five times as a 2-year-old, so we’re giving him a little breather,” Yakteen said. “We’re going to see him at the end of February, the beginning of March. We haven’t zeroed in what races.” :: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  There are many options. Santa Anita’s graded stakes schedule for dirt 3-year-olds includes the one-mile Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Sunday; seven-furlong, Grade 2 San Vicente on Jan. 29; and three routes – Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis on Feb, 4, Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 4, and Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 8. As for Baffert 3-year-olds ranked behind Cave Rock, the list is long. It includes maiden winners Arabian Knight, Faustin, Fort Warren, and Gilmore; and four entered Sunday in the Sham. They are BC Juvenile third National Treasure, Grade 3 turf winner Speed Boat Beach, graded-placed Newgate, and maiden winner Reincarnate. Others lurking in the wings are Grade 1-placed maiden Hejazi, a $3.55 million purchase at 2; and recently disappointing Arabian Lion. Local 3-year-olds not trained by Baffert and therefore eligible for Derby points are led by Practical Move. Fast maiden winner Spun Intended and Grade 3 turf winner Packs a Wahlop entered the Sham; Classical Cat is a turf stakes winner who trains well on dirt. A separate Daily Racing Form story previews the Sham. Other 3-year-olds are highly regarded, but still maidens. They include seven-figure John Sadler trainees approaching debuts – Prosper and Nuclear. Ultimate Gamble, an expensive colt trained by Mark Glatt, is nearing his second start. John Shirreffs trains Grade 1-placed maiden Skinner and highly regarded Sully, who ran super finishing fourth in his debut. Another seven-figure second-start maiden is Don Corleone, now trained by Peter Miller. :: Get Santa Anita Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day.  The best Baffert trainee behind Cave Rock has started once. Despite his inexperience, Arabian Knight is ranked among the most highly regarded 3-year-olds in California. It is not a big secret. Arabian Knight won his debut last fall at Keeneland, a seven-length smasher for Baffert that earned 97 Beyer Speed Figure. The son of Uncle Mo, a $2.3 million juvenile purchase, is cranking up for his 3-year-old campaign. Arabian Knight breezed six furlongs Dec. 30 and is likely to return early in the meet in an allowance or stakes. Arabian Lion was odds-on in the Los Alamitos Futurity following a fast maiden win and fast allowance runner-up. He bombed in the Futurity, with no apparent alibi. “He’s fine, he just didn’t run,” Baffert said. “I just draw a line through it. It just wasn’t his day. If you’re gonna throw in a clunker, do it now” in December. Plans are to be determined for Arabian Lion, who remains in training at Santa Anita. Faustin, sired by Curlin, scored a come-from-behind 87-Beyer debut sprint victory Dec. 26. “He’s not really bred to win first out,” Baffert said. “He is sort of a lazy, laid-back kind of horse. But he came running, so the sky’s the limit with him, especially the way he’s bred. He’s a good horse.” The next start for Faustin is to be determined. Speed Boat Beach is a two-time turf stakes winner returning to dirt in the Sham. It may be his preferred surface; he earned a 104 Beyer in his career debut on dirt at Del Mar. The long-range plan for Speed Boat Beach is the $1.5 million Saudi Derby on Feb. 25. Several more below-the-radar colts are with Baffert. Carmel Road and Fort Bragg finished two-three in the Los Alamitos Futurity; Jackstown won a fast maiden race in July and has resumed workouts; Hard to Figure and Massimo finished one-two in a minor stakes; a last-out maiden win by Reincarnate was validated when stablemate runner-up Mr. Fisk won his next start. Baffert-trained Havnameltdown is the division’s top sprinter with a pair of Grade 3 wins and a runner-up finish in the Del Mar Futurity. The seven-furlong San Vicente on Jan. 29 is a likely target for Havnameltdown. While Baffert dominates 3-year-old stakes, others will take shots. Classical Cat is a turf stakes winner whose trainer Phil D’Amato is tempted to try on dirt. “Every time I take him to the main track, the [exercise riders] say, keep him on the main, he loves it,” he said. “Down the road, we might try him long on dirt.” Classical Cat won the Eddie Logan on turf opening day; he won his career debut on dirt at Del Mar, defeating Hejazi. Stakes-placed maiden Ever a Rebel recently was transferred to D’Amato. Skinner and Sully are top prospects trained by Shirreffs, who has long maintained that Skinner would improve significantly at 3. Sired by Curlin, Skinner finished third in the Del Mar Futurity, then misfired. He is nearing a comeback. Sully ran super in his fourth-place debut in November; hopes are exceptionally high for the Uncle Mo colt. Ultimate Gamble cost $1.75 million as a 2-year-old. Trainer Mark Glatt looks forward to the Medaglia d’Oro colt’s 3-year-old season. He finished fourth in his only start Aug. 13. “We kept him in the barn, we just decided to back off,” Glatt said. “He walked a month, and tack-walked and jogged a month. I don’t think he’ll be very far from a race.” In the meantime, Glatt starts Spun Intended in the Sham on Sunday. Expensive, unraced Sadler trainees Nuclear and Prosper will begin careers with expectations to match yearling auction prices. Their juvenile campaigns stalled before they started. “They had little setbacks, they’re both on the tab now,” Sadler said recently. Nuclear, by Justify, cost $1.55 million. Prosper, by City of Light, cost $1.7 million. They could debut in late January or early February. Too late for Derby consideration? Probably, though Justify made his career debut Feb. 18 and won the Triple Crown. Last year, Taiba debuted in March. He next won the Santa Anita Derby and more. Don Corleone, a $1.2 million 2-year-old, was turned out with a minor issue following his last-place debut in September. His new trainer is Peter Miller, who will not rush Don Corleone. “He’s still a ways away,” Miller said recently. “He was my favorite horse at the [March] sale. I loved him. I feel very fortunate to have him in the barn. Obviously, the jury’s still out, but I’m pretty high on the horse.” Don Corleone is by More than Ready. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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