Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Hughes answers the challenge; Baffert wins seventh edition

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LEXINGTON, N.Y. − Hughes had dominated his competition with such ease in Southern California that trainer Bob Baffert was left to wonder only what would happen when his undefeated 2-year-old got challenged by better horses.

Hughes was challenged by multiple horses at different stages of Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland and had the answer every time as he drew clear to a 2 1/4-length victory over previously unbeaten American History. It was a head back to Salahudin in third as Baffert trained the first- and third-place finishers.

Coach Pope finished fourth followed by Damavand and He Is No Lie, who stumbled badly at the start and Joel Roasio was fortunate to stay on.

Gaudreau and Earth Song had been scratched earlier in the week, leaving the Juvenile, for the second consecutive year, with just six horses.

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Baffert said as he watched the race, he was as anxious as all the backers who made Hughes the 4-5 favorite how he would respond when challenged. He had won his previous four races by 24 1/2 lengths.

“He’s never been battle tested, you don’t know how they’re going to respond,” Baffert said. “I said at the quarter pole, today we’re going to find out what he’s made of. When a horse came to him, he caught another gear.”

The victory was the record-extending seventh in the Juvenile for Baffert. It also capped a 5-for-5 2-year-old campaign for Hughes − including Grade 1 victories in the Del Mar Futurity and American Pharoah − who will undoubtedly be voted 2-year-old champion of 2026.

Hughes, ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, was stalking Damavand going into the first turn. Straightening away down the backside, Hughes was right alongside Damavand after fractions of 23.36 seconds for the quarter and 46.65 for the half-mile.

When Damavand retreated, Coach Pope, an up-close third under Jose Ortiz, then came up outside of Hughes. Those two came into the stretch head and head with Salahudin and American History making their bids three and four wide, respectively. But in the final furlong, Hughes kicked away from the trio to win decisively.

“Today, we saw something you’re hoping to see where he’s going to have to take it to the next level,” Baffert said. “He was pretty impressive.”

American History, ridden by John Velazquez and trained by Todd Pletcher was able to finish second with what his connections felt was a difficult trip. Pletcher said going into the first turn, Velazquez told him American History clipped heels some with Hughes and then in the stretch was bumping with Salahudin to his inside.

“Johnny said the first turn was pretty rough,” Pletcher said. “He got beat by the favorite, who ran a great race. I think American History ran terrific too, could have been closer with a better around the first turn, who knows?”

Pletcher also trained Damavand, who faded to fifth after racing on the lead under Luis Saez. Pletcher said Saez told Damavand was “spinning his wheels” and added the horse may be switched to the turf in the future.

Jose Ortiz, who was unseated earlier in the day and got his calf stepped on, returned to ride Coach Pope in the Juvenile. He had the horse wide and off horses before engaging Hughes midway down the backside. Eventually, Coach Pope backed up and finished fourth, beaten six lengths.

“I think it was a good trip, just wasn’t able to sustain a big run like the others did,” Ortiz said. “I wanted to cover him up a little bit, I couldn’t, but I think the trip was good overall he just wasn’t good enough.”

Hughes, a son of Into Mischief owned by Front Ro2 Club, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Albaugh Family Stables, Robert Masterson, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.27 and returned $3.64 to win.

Prat said his plan was to sit off of Damavand until the first turn when American History clipped his horse’s heels.

“He was going to switch off around the [first[ turn and I don’t know if someone hit his heel because then he got keen on me,” Prat said. “Once I got going into the last turn, he finally dropped the bridle, took a breather, and not where I wanted to do it, but he did and then he was game after that. I didn’t know if he was going to be good enough to give me a run but he did.”

The victory put Baffert into a tie for most Breeders’ Cup victories with Aiden O’Brien at 22. O’Brien, who had won the race prior with Sun Goddess in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, snapped the tie with Haffner in the Juvenile Turf. Baffert also holds the record for most wins in the Juvenile, extending that mark to seven.

Tom Ryan, who heads Front Row Club, said the horse was named the night after Jack Hughes scored the Gold Medal winning goal for Team USA at the Winter Olympics. Ryan said his wife Katie’s maiden name is also Hughes and her father won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers in 1980s.

“So, all of a sudden I have family pressure, Jack Hughes pressure, this worked out incredibly well,” Ryan said. “A good horse with a great name turns out to be a great story. We’re very proud of him, he showed up today in front of a big crowd, with a great ownership group. This is the pinnacle of 2-year-old racing. This is championship racing, he has not let us down.”

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