Bauer to use Kentucky Jockey Club to gauge Jonathan's Way's future

Talented 2-year-old colt Jonathan’s Way will start in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs, trainer Philip Bauer said Thursday.

Jonathan’s Way won his first two starts before finishing seventh Nov. 1 as a 5-1 chance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Stalking from fifth midway through the race, his first around two turns, Jonathan’s Way lost ground to victorious Citizen Bull through the final half-mile and finished seven lengths behind the winner.

Jonathan’s Way, by Vekoma out of Female Drama, by Indian Charlie, scored a four-length maiden win sprinting on debut at Saratoga and in his second star landed the one-turn mile Iroquois at Churchill by 2 3/4 lengths. His 90 Beyer Speed Figure from the Iroquois dropped modestly to an 87 in the BC Juvenile, but Bauer, private trainer for Richard Rigney’s Rigney Racing, expected to see more.

“I thought it was extremely disappointing,” Bauer said. “There were some things you might say this or that could be an excuse, but the fact is he’s going to have to run behind horses at some point and pass horses at some point. We’re putting a line through it.”

Jonathan’s Way, back at Bauer’s Churchill barn, worked five furlongs Nov. 16 in a fast 58.80 seconds. Placed behind the fast 4-year-old filly Speedy Traveler and the faster 3-year-old filly Two Sharp, Jonathan’s Way came up the rail in the homestretch, failing to pass his company while under urging, albeit from an apparently heavy exercise rider. The two fillies clocked 59 seconds for their five furlongs.

The 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club will help determine whether Jonathan’s Way’s connections push on to two-turn stakes early next year at Fair Grounds or mold the colt into a one-turn runner.

“We need to get a better gauge on what we’re going to be doing going forward as a 3-year-old,” Bauer said.

Baffert returns to Churchill

Trainer Bob Baffert is set Wednesday to have his first starter at Churchill Downs since May 8, 2021. A week before that, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby but subsequently was disqualified because of a medication violation.

Churchill Downs Inc. banned Baffert two years from racing at CDI-owned tracks and extended the suspension another year during the summer of 2023. CDI rescinded the ban this past July, and Baffert on Wednesday entered the unraced maiden Barnes in the seventh race on Nov. 27. Barnes, by Into Mischief, was purchased by Zedan Racing for $3.2 million at a summer 2023 yearling sale.

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