Reincarnate hangs on to lead to earn Baffert another Los Alamitos Derby victory
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CYPRESS, Calif. — Two months after he faded from contention on the final turn of the Kentucky Derby, Reincarnate kept his lead throughout Saturday’s $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos.
Sent off a slight favorite in a field of five, Reincarnate ($4) led by at least a half-length through 1 1/8 miles and pulled clear in the stretch under jockey Juan Hernandez to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Skinner, the 6-5 second choice.
Reincarnate started for the first time in the Los Alamitos Derby since he finished 13th of 18 in the Kentucky Derby. Saturday’s race was the first for Skinner since a close third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8.
The colts may meet again in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, worth $1.25 million, at 1 1/4 miles Aug. 26 at Saratoga.
Reincarnate, won for the third time in his nine-race career in the Los Alamitos Derby. Reincarnate broke sharply and led by a length over 23-1 Prince Abu Dhabi through an opening quarter-mile in 23.23 seconds and a half-mile in 47.75 seconds.
Hernandez said Reincarnate was well within himself on the lead, and maybe a little too much so.
“He was waiting for the company,” Hernandez said. “He didn’t want to pick up the bridle, and I didn’t want to make him. I let him play a bit.”
Prince Abu Dhabi got within a half-length of Reincarnate with three furlongs remaining, but no closer. At Hernandez’s urging, Reincarnate became more focused.
“At the three-eighths pole, I pulled the rein and he picked it up,” Hernandez said. In the stretch, he switched leads and won the race.”
Reincarnate was timed in 1:48.72 seconds and gave trainer Bob Baffert his seventh consecutive win in the Los Alamitos Derby and eighth victory in the last nine years. Reincarnate earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91.
“All the credit goes to Bob,” Hernandez said. “Bob had him ready.”
The win gave Hernandez a sweep of the three stakes of the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos, which ends on Sunday. Hernandez won the Bertrando Stakes for statebred milers with Kings River Knight June 24 and the Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes on the Baffert-trained Eda on July 4.
Skinner finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of Prince Abu Dhabi, who was followed by Abeliefinthislivn and Smart Mo in the small field. The maiden Yellow Brick was withdrawn on Saturday morning.
Skinner missed two scheduled starts after the Santa Anita Derby. Skinner was withdrawn from the Kentucky Derby on May 5 the day before the race because of a reported elevated temperature.
Skinner was scratched June 5 from the $100,000 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita after trainer John Shirreffs said the colt “didn’t jog sufficiently well” in the days before the race.
Shirreffs said after the Los Alamitos Derby that Skinner is a candidate for the Travers, a race Baffert mentioned in the winner’s circle as a goal for Reincarnate.
Reincarnate, by Good Magic, has earned $420,650. Purchased for $775,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Reincarnate races for the massive partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan.
The Los Alamitos Derby was Reincarnate’s second stakes win. In January, Reincarnate won his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes. National Treasure, third in the Sham for Baffert, later won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in March.
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