Nadal shows some grit in San Vicente score

ARCADIA, Calif. – First it was Authentic in the Sham. Then came Thousand Words in the Robert Lewis. And on Sunday it was Nadal’s turn in the San Vicente. Each colt is trained by Bob Baffert, who has swept the three graded dirt stakes for 3-year-olds so far this meet at Santa Anita with horses who, as of Sunday night, were all undefeated.

Nadal was the last to come on the scene, making his debut on Jan. 19. Brought back in just three weeks for the Grade 2, $200,000 San Vicente, he proved up to the task by battling on the front end through a torrid pace in the seven-furlong race and holding off a tenacious Ginobili to win in a race where last year’s champion 2-year-old male, Storm the Court, finished fourth.

Nadal ($2.60) was heavily favored off his debut, in which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98 going 6 1/2 furlongs. As in his debut, he was quick away from the gate and set swift fractions, but he was running against far better competition on Sunday, and Ginobili pestered him until deep stretch. Nadal won by three-quarters of a length over Ginobili, who was 1 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Fast Enough.

Storm the Court, sent off the second choice at 3-1 for his first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, was a neck farther back in fourth after racing evenly throughout. Ra’ad and Party Town both were far, far back.

Nadal is an imposing specimen, but he can get going in a hurry. He set fractions of 21.81 seconds for the opening quarter – at a distance where there is little run-up – and 44.09 seconds for the half en route to a final time of 1:22.59 on the fast main track.

Joel Rosario rode the winner.

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“I told him not to get cute,” Baffert said in the winner’s circle. “Don’t grab him. I didn’t think they’d go that fast. They took it to him.”

Ginobili was with Nadal from the start, and Party Town was in close attendance for the opening quarter before the relentless pace proved too much. Ginobili was making his first start since October. Rosario was ticketed for him until Baffert made the late decision to run Nadal here.

“My horse, he tried,” said Abel Cedillo, who picked up the mount on Ginobili.

Rosario said Nadal “broke sharp and handled the pressure from the outside.”

“He went fast, but he kept on going,” Rosario said.

“He gutted it out,” said Baffert, who only gave Nadal one easy half-mile work between starts. “I trained him light for this because he was coming back quick. I knew if he was really good, he’d come back. Now he’s got a good foundation. He should get a lot out of this.”

Baffert said Nadal likely would make his next start in the Rebel at Oaklawn on March 14. That would mark his two-turn debut, and his first chance to earn points toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 2.

Authentic is likely to run in the San Felipe here on March 7, and Thousand Words could end up there, too.

“I have little plans in my head,” Baffert said. “They’re going to have to hook each other at some point. They’re going to be nominated to everything.”

Nadal, by Blame, was purchased as a 2-year-old in training last March by Kerri Radcliffe on behalf of a partnership that now includes George Bolton, Arthur Hoyeau, Barry Lipman, and Mark Mathiesen. He was bought as a yearling for $65,000 by Randy Bradshaw, and then pinhooked.