Explora, after Test Stakes triumph, now targets BC Filly and Mare Sprint

A year after Bob Baffert won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with Splendora, he seems to have a new candidate for this year’s running in Explora. Following her five-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga, Explora will now be aimed at the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

Baffert said Explora will have one more start before the Breeders’ Cup and while he did not specifically mention a spot, the race on the calendar that would appear to make the most sense is the Grade 3, $300,000 Dogwood Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs at Churchill Downs on Sept. 19. Explora won the Leslie’s Lady Stakes at Churchill in June.

There were a few anxious moments for Explora at the barn before coming over to the paddock as she backed up into a spigot and suffered a cut a spot near her rear end.

“She walked backwards into that little faucet and hit a vein in an area where it’s real sensitive,” Baffert said. “We washed it down and she was good.”

Baffert said Explora will likely ship to Kentucky in the coming week.

Meanwhile, after Splendora has won her last two starts around two turns, including the Molly Pitcher Stakes, she will be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Baffert expects to run Splendora one more time, in likely the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga on Aug. 29 or the Grade 2, $400,000 Locust Grove at Churchill on Sept. 12.

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