Collected breezes to 14-length triumph in Precisionist

ARCADIA, Calif. - Collected had won the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes by 14 lengths at Santa Anita when trainer Bob Baffert met jockey Martin Garcia on the track.

The margin of victory in the $100,000 Precisionist Stakes caught Baffert delightfully by surprise – and gave him a chance to tease Garcia.

“I told him, Dude, it’s $100,000,” Baffert said.

Collected took the lead in early stretch and drew away with minimal urging from Garcia’s whip to win by the flashy margin. Collected ($3.20) ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.52, beating stablemate Cat Burglar, who finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of Accelerate.

Donworth, in his first start since a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in West Virginia in April 2016, finished fourth, well clear of Keane, a Group 1 winner from South America who had his first United States start in the Precisionist.

Collected remained unbeaten in three starts, all stakes, with the victory Saturday. Earlier this year, he won the Santana Mile on April 1 and the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at 1 1/8 miles April 22.

Collected, who races for Peter Fluor’s Speedway Stable, was held out of the Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 27 after Baffert said he was unsatisfied with the 4-year-old colt’s condition. There were concerns at the time regarding how Collected would perform at 1 1/4 miles. The stable won the race with Cupid.

“I didn’t want to run him in the Gold Cup because he didn’t work that well,” Baffert said. “I think the middle distances are for him.”

Collected, who is by City Zip, is considered a long-term candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 3. Collected is likely to run in races ranging in distance from a mile to 1 1/8 miles in coming months, and could be tried on turf.

“If I can keep him in races like that, he seems to be tough,” Baffert said.

Collected has won 7 of 10 starts and earned $660,500. The Precisionist was his sixth career stakes win.

Collected was turned out in 2016 after finishing 10th of 11 in the Preakness Stakes.