ARCADIA, Calif. – Baeza, third in the Kentucky Derby last May, will be transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott following the death of trainer John Shirreffs last Thursday, majority owner Lee Searing said on Monday. The decision, reached after consultation with co-owner Robert Clay’s Grandview Equine, gives Mott massive depth in the 4-year-old male division. Mott trains 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty, who won the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes last year. Searing said there were three factors that led to the decision to send Baeza to Mott. “The most important thing is the quality of Bill Mott, the kind of person that Robert Clay and myself relate to,” Searing said, adding, “John Shirreffs would probably have liked that pick. :: Santa Anita Classic Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. “Third, he belongs back East in a great setting. He’s going to get all three of these.” Baeza is scheduled to be flown to Mott’s winter base at Payson Park in Florida on Thursday. Searing said last week that he wanted Baeza based on the East Coast to take advantage of a greater number of lucrative stakes than what is available in California. Searing said Baeza could be sent to Del Mar for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, a $1 million race at 1 1/4 miles, on Aug. 22. Searing said there are ample races for Baeza to have a campaign and largely avoid racing against Sovereignty. “I think there are many races we can keep them separate,” he said. “Everyone wants to get to the Breeders’ Cup.” Sovereignty, unraced since a win in the Travers Stakes last August, had his first workout of 2026 on Sunday, going three furlongs in 37.40 seconds at Payson Park. The Breeders’ Cup Classic will be run Oct. 31 at Keeneland. Baeza was sixth in the 2025 BC Classic. Sovereignty missed the race because of illness. In recent days, Baeza was based at Santa Anita with trainer Peter Eurton. On Sunday, Baeza worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds under exercise rider Amy Vasko. Sunday’s workout was the third for Baeza since late January. “He went beautifully,” Searing said on Sunday of the workout. A dispersal of horses previously trained by Shirreffs was largely completed at Santa Anita over the weekend. Shirreffs, well known as the trainer of 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and the Hall of Fame mare Zenyatta, died Thursday at the age of 80. Eurton received the horses owned by Searing and his wife, Susan, while others were sent to Bob Hess Jr. and Leonard Powell. Eurton will train such former Shirreffs runners as Westwood, who won the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Jan. 31. Westwood is a candidate for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7. Shirreffs, an immensely popular figure in California racing, won 596 races from 3,589 starters who earned more than $58.5 million. Shirreffs won such races as the Santa Anita Derby and Santa Anita Handicap three times, and three Breeders’ Cup races – the Distaff in 2008 with Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet in 2009, and the Classic in 2009 with Zenyatta. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.