Scipio overcomes tough trip to win Baffle Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - To reach the front in the final furlong of the $101,000 Baffle Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters at Santa Anita on Sunday, Scipio briefly had an eventful journey.

Sent off favored, Scipio waited behind the leaders when the field made the transition from the hillside turf course to the main oval. Jockey Flavien Prat moved Scipio to the outside in the stretch and quickly reached the front, winning by a comfortable 1 1/2 lengths.

“I had a rough trip,” Prat said. “Right before the dirt, he jumped on the bit and I didn’t have anywhere to go. It was challenging.”

Prat found racing room in time. Scipio ($3.80) ran about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:12.52.

Game Warrior, the longest shot in the field at 34-1, overcame a clumsy transition over the dirt to close well and finished second, a nose in front of 5-2 Freedom’s Not Free.

Fomo Joe finished fourth, followed by Triple Diamonds, Style Cat, and Maximus in the field of seven.

The Baffle was Scipio’s first stakes win in his fourth start in such a race. At 2, he was third while racing in traffic in the Grade 3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf in September, encountered trouble when fourth in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 1, and finished second after a wide trip in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes there on Dec. 1.

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Scipio, a ridgling by Caravaggio who races for Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, has not lost since, winning a maiden race at a mile on turf at odds of 7-10 on Dec. 28.

“He’s talented,” Prat said.

Trained by Richard Baltas, Scipio has earned $149,000 in six starts.

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