Improbable and McKinzie work for upcoming stakes
DEL MAR, Calif. – Maximum Security will be favored in the Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar, a race to which trainer Bob Baffert also nominated two other top older horses in his care, Improbable and McKinzie. While both those horses are passing the race, they worked in recent days at Del Mar, and plans are being finalized for their next starts.
McKinzie was given an official time of 1:00.40 for five furlongs on Sunday morning for a drill that included an extensive gallop-out. He most recently was fifth on July 4 at Belmont Park in the Met Mile after losing two shoes.
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McKinzie was withdrawn from the six-furlong Bing Crosby here, and Baffert said he will run next in either the Grade 2, $150,000 Pat O’Brien going seven furlongs here Aug. 29 or, more likely, head to Churchill Downs for the Grade 2, $400,000 Alysheba, a 1 1/16-mile race on Sept. 4. McKinzie won the Alysheba in 2019 when it was run in May.
Improbable comes off a victory in the Whitney on Aug. 1 at Saratoga. In his first work since then, he went five furlongs Saturday in 1:00.60, after which Baffert said he will run next in either the Awesome Again on Sept. 26 at Santa Anita or the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park as his lone start between now and the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
Baffert also recently provided updates on two other significant older horses he trains. Game Winner, who has not raced for 13 months, was in training earlier this year but had a setback and was sent to Kentucky and is scheduled to soon return to Baffert’s care. Game Winner was the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, the year he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Mucho Gusto, idle since finishing fourth in the inaugural Saudi Cup in February following a victory in the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream, is in training at Los Alamitos. Mucho Gusto is now owned by Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, and Baffert said the overriding focus for him is a return to the Saudi Cup.