Taiba will pass on Met Handicap, will point to San Diego Handicap instead

ARCADIA, Calif. - Taiba, eighth in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia in February in his only start this year, will miss Saturday’s Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park in favor of the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 29, trainer Bob Baffert said on Sunday.

“I don’t know if he’s ready to go a mile against top horses,” Baffert said.

“He’s not quite back to where he was. That’s a long way to go to run against Cody’s Wish.”

Cody’s Wish has won his last five starts, all in stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland last November and his lone start of 2023 in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs on May 6.

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Taiba worked seven furlongs in 1:27.40 at Santa Anita on Friday, his sixth workout since the Saudi Cup in which he finished 7 1/2 lengths behind race winner Panthalassa.

By focusing on the $300,000 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles, Taiba will have five months between starts.

Owned by Zedan Racing, Taiba has won 4 of 8 starts and earned $2,356,200. Taiba was a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding 3-year-old male of 2022, a season in which the colt won three Grade 1 stakes.

Taiba, third in the BC Classic at Keeneland in November, has not started in the United States since a win in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

Baffert said on Sunday that Country Grammer, second in the Saudi Cup in February, has been sent from California to WinStar Farm in Kentucky for a springtime rest.

The winner of the $12 million Dubai World Cup in March 2022, Country Grammer is winless in three starts this year, including a seventh in the Dubai World Cup in March and a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 29.

-additional reporting by David Grening.

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