Can Game Winner pull off Breeders' Cup Juvenile-Kentucky Derby double?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Though trainer Bob Baffert has won the Kentucky Derby five times, none has come with the three horses with whom he won the prior year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Friday, at Churchill Downs, Baffert won his fourth Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with Game Winner, who will now be one of several candidates Baffert figures to have for next year’s Kentucky Derby.

Neither Vindication, who won the Juvenile in 2002, or New Year’s Day, who won it in 2013, ever raced again owing to physical issues. Midshipman, the 2008 Juvenile winner, was sold and didn’t make the spring classics for his new owner, Godolphin Racing.

“None of them were like him,” said Baffert, referring to Game Winner. “Vindication was but he had physical issues. Of all of them that won, this guy, there’s a lot more there. What he did yesterday was pretty impressive.”

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Game Winner, ridden by Joel Rosario, overcame a wide trip and a midstretch bump to win the Juvenile by 2 1/4 lengths over Knicks Go. He ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.67 and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

Game Winner, a son of Candy Ride owned by Gary and Mary West, completed a perfect 4-for-4 campaign with Grade 1 victories in the Del Mar Futurity and American Pharoah to go along with his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile score.

Baffert said Game Winner looked good Saturday morning and he would ship to California on Monday.

Baffert said he hasn’t given much thought to Game Winner’s 3-year-old campaign, but has previously mentioned that the horse thrives on racing.

“He’ll have at least two runs,” Baffert said. “He’s the kind of horse that would probably thrive on a race that’s three weeks out.”

The Arkansas Derby, a race Baffert won in 2015 with American Pharoah, is run three weeks out from the Kentucky Derby. American Pharoah won the Triple Crown.

Game Winner wasn’t the only impressive 2-year-old winner Baffert sent out on Breeders' Cup weekend. On Friday, Improbable, a son of City Zip who shares much the same ownership as Triple Crown winner Justify, won the Street Sense Stakes by 7 1/4 lengths. He ran a mile in 1:35.61 and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

Baffert said Improbable will run again this year, with the Kentucky Jockey Club here on Nov. 24 or the Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 8 the potential spots.

Knicks Go came out of his game second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in good order, according to trainer Ben Colebrook. Knicks Go will ship to Keeneland on Sunday morning and Colebrook said the horse would remain in training with a possible start in the Kentucky Jockey Club.

“I would give it at least 10 days before I make a decision,” Colebrook said. “I’ll work him one time in between and the work would be the determining factor. If he worked really well we’d probably look at it. If he didn’t work well or he seems like he’s a tired horse we wouldn’t run, but I don’t think that would be the case. He always shows good energy.”

Regardless of whether he runs again this year, Knicks Go will winter at Tampa Bay Downs.

Signalman, third in the Juvenile, will point to the Kentucky Jockey Club, trainer Ken McPeek said.

- additional reporting by Marty McGee