ARCADIA, Calif. - Potente’s game win in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita has made the undefeated colt a leading contender in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, should trainer Bob Baffert select that race. If Potente starts in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles, he may face a familiar lineup of runners. The trainers of Robusta, So Happy and Secured Freedom, who finished second through fourth in the $201,000 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, are also considering the Santa Anita Derby, the leading Kentucky Derby prep race in California. The Santa Anita Derby field is also expected to include Intrepido, who won the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita last October. Intrepido was second in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at a mile on Feb. 7 in his first start of 2026 and was held out of the San Felipe in favor of the Santa Anita Derby. Potente, bought for $2.4 million as a yearling in 2024, closed from fifth in a field of seven in the San Felipe. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Potente ($18.20) was third with a furlong remaining and edged a stubborn 67-1 outsider in Robusta to win by a head. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “He came back and looked good,” Baffert said on Sunday morning. “He had a good foundation and he was ready for that. You could tell he was going pretty strong. Did you see how he galloped out?” Potente, owned by Speedway Stables, won his second start in the San Felipe. The colt won a six-furlong maiden race on Jan. 31. Baffert did not entirely commit Potente to the Santa Anita Derby. “A lot can change between now and then,” he said. Baffert said that Blacksmith, who won a maiden race at a mile by 3 3/4 lengths in his fifth career start on Feb. 20, and Cherokee Nation, the winner of a maiden race at a mile by 10 lengths on Feb. 27, are candidates for the Santa Anita Derby. Cherokee Nation earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 for his recent win. Robusta had not been off the track for long after the San Felipe before trainer Doug O’Neill said he was eager to try the colt in the Santa Anita Derby. Robusta was fitted with blinkers for the first time in the San Felipe. The Santa Anita Derby figures in the tentative plans for So Happy and Secured Freedom. So Happy, winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs on Jan. 10, was beaten for the first time in his third start in the San Felipe, his first race around two turns. So Happy dueled for the lead with Brant before fading in the stretch to finish 2 1/4 lengths behind Potente. “I thought he ran a good race,” trainer Mark Glatt said. “He pressed a pretty hot pace. Maybe he needed the race around two turns.” Glatt said on Sunday morning that So Happy deserves another chance to start in a two-turn race this spring. “I think with the race and the experience yesterday, if we take the next step, we’ll know for sure,” he said. “It depends on how much he moves forward” off the San Felipe. Secured Freedom was fifth and then fourth for most of the San Felipe, and was beaten three lengths. Trained by Tim Yakteen, Secured Freedom finished third by four lengths in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at a mile on Feb. 7 in his stakes debut. Secured Freedom was a length or two behind the pace to the end of the backstretch in the San Felipe. Yakteen said he was still “figuring out” Secured Freedom’s performance. “We’ll regroup and see how he trains,” Yakteen said. “We would only come back in the Santa Anita Derby. We wouldn’t ship anywhere else in the short term.” The Santa Anita Derby will clarify how Secured Freedom handles a longer distance. “That’s what we need to find out,” Yakteen said. “He looked like he wants more ground when he ran the mile last time. He kind of leveled off on me in the lane” in the San Felipe. The San Felipe was Brant’s first start since a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Oct. 31. Brant, trained by Baffert, led the San Felipe field to the final turn before fading to lose by 6 3/4 lengths. “I thought I had him tight enough for that,” Baffert said. Baffert said Brant will be considered for the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland on April 4. “He deserves one more chance,” Baffert said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.