Doppelganger tops Baffert trio in San Vicente

With his bay coat, generous blaze that cascades down his face and dribbles across a nostril, and with flecks of white up to his ankles on more than one leg, it’s no wonder Doppelganger was chosen as the name for this son of Into Mischief, as he really does bear a striking resemblance to his sire.

Doppelganger made a splashy debut last month at Los Alamitos, and on Saturday at Santa Anita he will try to take the next step when he is among a field of five – including two stablemates – in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Vicente Stakes for 3-year-olds.

The seven-furlong San Vicente is race 4 on the nine-race card. It is not a points-scoring race toward the Kentucky Derby on May 7, as there are no stakes at less than a mile for 3-year-olds on the Road to the Derby list authored by Churchill Downs.

Doppelganger was 1-2 for his debut, despite drawing the rail, and he delivered as advertised. He took a bump at the start of the six-furlong race, sat behind a four-way duel for the lead while getting plenty of dirt in his face, got through inside coming off the final bend, then galloped home under Flavien Prat as though he was out for a morning breeze. He got a Beyer Speed Figure of 80.

His trainer, Bob Baffert, and the large ownership group that owns him also entered McLaren Vale and Pinehurst. All three worked well last Sunday at Santa Anita for Baffert before he departed for New York for his hearing with the New York Racing Association.

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McLaren Vale, by the white-hot Gun Runner, beat three rivals going 6 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 31 at Santa Anita with a moderate 66 Beyer.

Pinehurst, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last summer, makes his first start since finishing in a dead heat for fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, his first attempt at two turns following two sprint wins.

“The plan is to run all three. It’s a nice starting point, and they all worked well,” Tom Ryan of SF Bloodstock, who helps manage the partnership, said Thursday.

The Baffert runners drew posts 2 through 4.

Drawing the rail was the speedy Forbidden Kingdom, who has not raced since Nov. 14, when he was second in the Grade 3 Bob Hope at Del Mar, during which he tore off a piece of a front hoof, commonly known as “grabbing a quarter.” He has had five works since resuming training, with two of the last three best of the morning at the distance.

“He’s worked real nice,” said his trainer, Richard Mandella, who said he’s “still not sure” Forbidden Kingdom, who at times has been headstrong, will eventually stretch out.

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“I wish this race was six furlongs, but it’s seven,” Mandella said.

What in Blazes, who has not raced since beating fellow California-breds in his second start last July, drew the outside post. This would mark his first race against open company and for trainer John Sadler, who has taken the reins from Jerry Hollendorfer.