Desert Gate's debut Beyer should be more than enough in Best Pal
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DEL MAR, Calif. – Desert Gate is not the fastest nor most expensive 2-year-old colt trained this season by Bob Baffert. That would actually be Brant, the $3 million colt who earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure in his debut.
However, Desert Gate was the first juvenile colt Baffert started this year. And on Saturday at Del Mar, Desert Gate is the star while Brant is in his stall.
Desert Gate is favored in the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes based on his sharp debut. The 86 Beyer earned by Desert Gate is short of Brant’s triple-digit figure, but 86 should suffice.
Desert Gate runs six furlongs in the Best Pal, race 4, a stakes Baffert has won 11 times. The five-runner, two-trainer field includes Baffert’s maiden second-time starter St Petersburg and three trained by Doug O’Neill – maiden Brigante, and maiden winners Punto Forty and Pavlovian.
Sired by Omaha Beach, Desert Gate is owned by Mike Pegram, Paul Weitman, and Karl Watson. They purchased the colt for $260,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March 2-year-olds in training sale after he breezed a furlong in 9.80 seconds. Desert Gate shipped to California and soon was ready to start.
“Some you can go on with, and some you have to back off,” Baffert said. “He was one that went on and handled everything well.”
Desert Gate won his debut June 13; the race was flattered when third-place Proletariat won next out. Desert Gate enters the Best Pal with a speed-figure advantage of 30 points over his closest rival. Juan Hernandez rides Desert Gate from the outside post.
In the two months since Desert Gate’s debut, two more Baffert-trained 2-year-old colts scored impressive debut wins. Brant romped July 26; Buetane won Aug. 3 with an 83 Beyer. Both will be considered for the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 7.
“I don’t know if I’m going to run both in there or split them up,” Baffert said. “I’m playing it by ear.”
Desert Gate, the 3-5 Best Pal favorite, would give him another Futurity prospect. Baffert also expects St Petersburg to improve off his debut third at Los Alamitos. He raced greenly.
“He wasn’t ready to run, I wanted to give him an out,” Baffert said.
The prep served its purpose, St Petersburg has woken up.
“He worked well down here [at Del Mar], he’ll improve a lot,” Baffert said. Drayden Van Duke rides St Petersburg.
The O’Neill trio includes Pavlovian, a Pavel colt owned by breeder J. Paul Reddam.
“He’s a dream homebred,” O’Neill said. “He’s one of those you would have bought at a sale, just a good-looking horse who covers a lot of ground.”
Pavlovian won second out with a 53 Beyer. Umberto Rispoli rides late-runner Pavlovian. O’Neill also entered front-runner Punto Forty, who earned a 56 Beyer winning his debut. Antonio Fresu rides Punto Forty, sired by O’Neill-trained 2015 Best Pal winner Nyquist, who also won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby.
Brigante finished second in his debut, a turf sprint won by next-start stakes winner Hey Nay Nay. Brigante is by More Than Ready.
“He’s got grass in his pedigree, but he trains like he’ll run well on the dirt,” O’Neill said. Hector Berrios rides Brigante from the rail.
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