Streaking West Coast sets sights on Travers Stakes

CYPRESS, Calif. - West Coast has earned his position at the top of trainer Bob Baffert’s 3-year-old division this summer.

Consecutive stakes wins at Belmont Park and Los Alamitos in recent weeks have left Baffert hopeful West Coast can play a greater role when the colt has his Grade 1 debut in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 26.

Baffert knows a bit about the Travers. He won the race last year with Arrogate, who has since won three Grade 1 or Group 1 races, including the $10 Million Dubai World Cup in March, and is rated the world’s leading racehorse.

West Coast earned a trip to the Travers with a victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles, the longest race of his career. West Coast had a wide trip and closed from fifth in the final three furlongs to win by 2 3/4 lengths as the 2-5 favorite under jockey Drayden Van Dyke.

:: Saratoga Clocker Report: Get in-depth workout analysis for the 2017 summer meet

“That’s what we’re looking for,” Baffert said. “I think the Travers will be a good spot.”

Owned by Gary and Mary West, West Coast was something of a disappointment in early spring. He was a candidate for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in early April, but was held out of that race after Baffert said he was unhappy with a workout.

West Coast was second in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland on April 15, finishing a head behind Senior Investment, who was later third in the Preakness Stakes in May.

West Coast is on a three-race winning streak since the Lexington. He won an optional claimer at Santa Anita in May and his first stakes in the Easy Goer Stakes at 1 1/16 miles around one turn at Belmont Park on June 10.

By Flatter, West Coast has won 4 of 6 starts and earned $323,800. Baffert credits West Coast’s maturity with the recent consistent form.

“He’s starting to settle down,” Baffert said. “He’s developing like Arrogate and we’re taking baby steps with him.”

The Travers will be a difficult test, bringing together many of the nation’s best 3-year-olds. West Coast will be trained at Del Mar in the buildup to the Travers Stakes.

:: First time ever! Get Del Mar Clocker Reports for the 2017 summer meet

“If he gets on that plane, he’s doing well,” Baffert said.

West Coast finished clear of Klimt, who started for the first time this year in the $200,690 Los Alamitos Derby. Klimt won four times as a 2-year-old in 2016, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last September, and was eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November.

Klimt was trained by Baffert last year but transferred to Art Sherman last winter after Baffert and owner Kaleem Shah parted ways.

Klimt was within a head of the lead with a furlong remaining in the Los Alamitos Derby, but could not keep pace with West Coast. The win left Sherman encouraged about Klimt’s possibilities in the second half of the year, even though the Travers Stakes is not under consideration, he said.

“I was proud of that horse,” Sherman said Sunday. “He’s really laid his body down. He’s a little tired this morning. He ate last night.”

Sherman said he would discuss race goals with Shah in coming weeks.

“We’ll make a decision a little later down the road,” he said. “The Travers would be a tough start. I was glad to get this race in him.”