Cave Rock, Hejazi get distance test in American Pharoah Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. – You can’t see it, hidden from view on the far turn at Santa Anita.
It’s an unseen blockade that the juvenile sprinters stretching to 1 1/16 miles on Saturday will not recognize until too late. For some, the distance barrier is impenetrable.
“The second turn, it hits them and it’s like an invisible wall,” trainer Bob Baffert said.
While several of the 2-year-olds entered in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes will pass the two-turn test, others will not. And when Baffert starts undefeated Grade 1 winner Cave Rock and highly rated maiden Hejazi on Saturday, even he does not know for sure.
“You get an idea – ‘I think they’ll handle it’ – but you don’t know,” Baffert said. “You just don’t know until they do it.”
Baffert-trained 2-year-olds have done it 10 times in the American Pharoah, nine won in the first route of their career. And while Baffert may not be certain if Cave Rock and Hejazi will stay the trip, history is on his side.
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Eight juvenile colts entered the American Pharoah, previously called the FrontRunner and, before that, the Norfolk. By any name, the $300,000 stakes ranks among the most important races of the autumn season.
The American Pharoah, race 8, is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The race has produced nine Juvenile winners, including five of the last eight (Texas Red, Nyquist, Game Winner, Storm the Court, and Corniche).
And though neither Cave Rock nor Hejazi have run long, they have run fast – both have earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. They top a field that includes Baffert-trained debut winners Gandolfini and National Treasure; along with Skinner, Man Child, Macnamara, and Odonata. The only starters who have raced two turns are Gandolfini, maiden runner-up Odonata, and maiden-claiming winner Macnamara.
The race centers around Cave Rock and Hejazi.
“They’re two outstanding individuals,” Baffert said. “I hate to run those two good horses” against each other.
Cave Rock made his debut Aug. 13 as the favorite in a Del Mar maiden sprint, which he won by six lengths with a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. One month later, he did it again in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, winning by 5 1/4 lengths with a 98.
Sired by Arrogate, Cave Rock was purchased for $550,000 as a yearling and is owned by longtime Baffert clients Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. Cave Rock is expected to set the pace under Juan Hernandez.
Hejazi finished second in both starts; his maiden status is mere trivia. He already ranks among the fastest 2-year-olds in the country based on his 100-Beyer runner-up last out behind next-start stakes winner Speed Boat Beach.
While acknowledging the colt must prove it on the track, Baffert believes Hejazi “wants to go long, definitely.”
“He’s bred for it,” Baffert said. “He’s got tactical speed.”
Sired by Bernardini, Hejazi was purchased for $3.55 million as a 2-year-old by Amr Zedan. He should be forwardly placed under Mike Smith, and one of the top betting choices. Maidens won the Grade 1 American Pharoah, before it was renamed, in 2010 (Jaycito), 2012 (Power Broker), and 2013 (Bond Holder). None was as fast as Hejazi.
Half the field are Baffert trainees. National Treasure won his sprint debut with an 82 Beyer on Sept. 3 at Del Mar; Gandolfini won his debut in a Los Alamitos route on Sept. 17, earning a 68. Gandolfini was not originally nominated, he was supplemented for $6,000.
The maiden Skinner looms an intriguing longshot based on better-than-looked sprints in his first two starts. Trained by John Shirreffs, the Curlin colt made his debut July 24 at Del Mar. He lacked speed, finished well, and galloped out super.
Shirreffs ran him back in the Del Mar Futurity. He improved, but inexperience is a bigger hindrance to a late-runner than a front-runner. It compromised Skinner.
“He broke okay but the dirt hit him, so immediately he got too far back,” Shirreffs said. “It took him a long while to get comfortable. Then he had to go to the outside, but he closed nicely.”
Victor Espinoza rides Skinner again Saturday.
“I think he’s going to go forward. Distance is going to be his race,” Espinoza said.
Stakes-placed Man Child, trained by Ryan Hanson, could influence the pace scenario under Hector Berrios. Man Child won his debut in July at Los Alamitos, finished third in the Grade 3 Best Pal at Del Mar, and third in a restricted sprint stakes at Los Alamitos.
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