Mr. A. P. auditions for Kentucky Downs stakes; Lee's Baby Girl steps up

DEL MAR, Calif. – Turf horses are going places if things pan out Thursday at Del Mar.

Mr. A. P.’s sights are set on Kentucky Downs, pending his performance Thursday in race 1. Lee’s Baby Girl continues up the class ladder in race 7.

Both are likely to be well bet – Grade 1-placed Mr. A. P. in an entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf, and sharp Lee’s Baby Girl in a second-level allowance for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf.

Race 1 on Thursday is the second start back for Mr. A. P., runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall before he was sidelined with a knee chip. He returned July 17 in the Oceanside Handicap at Del Mar and finished third, his first start on turf and first start in more than eight months.

“I thought he was short,” trainer Vladimir Cerin said. “It was a good effort, Joel [Rosario] didn’t push him too hard, and the winner won well.”

Mr. A. P. finished six lengths behind the runaway Oceanside winner Proletariat, who is aiming to the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Aug. 23. Mr. A. P. will aim elsewhere if things go well Thursday.

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“If all goes well, there are a couple interesting races at Kentucky Downs,” Cerin said, referring to turf races Sept. 7 – the Grade 2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs and $1.75 million Gun Runner Stakes at one mile.

Mr. A. P. adds Lasix on Thursday at Del Mar, drops into an allowance, and is expected to improve with a comeback under his belt.

“It looks like he should be the favorite, and as long as he runs like it, I’m okay,” Cerin said. “It’s probably an easier field” than the Oceanside.

Mr. A. P. is the 8-5 program favorite under Rosario. Mr. A. P. worked four furlongs on turf in 49 seconds on Sunday morning.

Mr. A. P.’s rivals include Grade 1-placed Vitruvian Man, Iriseach, Ottis Betts, Zeus’s Echo, and Caro Buono.

Race 7 on Thursday marks another step up for the filly Lee’s Baby Girl, claimed for $50,000 from a February 2025 maiden win by trainer Carla Gaines. The filly, then 3, was immediately given six months off.

“That was the plan,” Gaines said. “She needed time off, she’d had a hard campaign as a 2-year-old, and she’s a Malibu Moon. Those horses really mature at 4 and 5.”

Lee’s Baby Girl returned last summer at Del Mar and has hardly looked back since. She won a first-level starter allowance in her comeback, finished second in a Grade 3, misfired around two turns, then was given the winter off.

When she returned this spring at Santa Anita, Lee’s Baby Girl produced the best two races of her career – runner-up in a second-level allowance, followed by a starter allowance win. The 4-year-old gray filly is getting bigger and better.

“She just keeps stepping up,” Gaines said. “I look at her every day and go, ‘Is she still growing?’ She’s just an amazingly beautiful filly, she’s grown up, she’s filled out.”

Lee’s Baby Girl, listed at 5-1 in the program, is fast enough to win Thursday with a pace-pressing trip under jockey Kazushi Kimura. She faces a field that includes class-dropper Kuwaitya, comeback front-runner Bit’s Tiger Magic, and speedster A. Z. Wildcat, the 3-1 program favorite trying turf for the first time.

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