Sometimes, it’s Bob Baffert’s world and we’re just betting on it.
Like this week:
• Friday, Baffert will be in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to see Justify, his 2018 Triple Crown winner, headline this year’s class of honorees at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony. Justify is the sixth Baffert-trained horse in the Hall of Fame, joining Silver Charm, Silverbulletday, Point Given, American Pharoah and Arrogate. Baffert himself became a Hall of Famer in 2009.
• Saturday, Baffert will run the favorite in the race of the weekend at Saratoga when he saddles National Treasure for the Whitney Stakes.
• Also Saturday, Baffert will run the favorite in the race of the weekend at Del Mar when Adare Manor seeks a repeat victory in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes.
• Meanwhile, Baffert is quietly rolling out a roster of 2-year-olds who could be the next Adare Manors, National Treasures or even Justifys.
National Treasure goes into the $1 million, Grade I Whitney as the No. 1 horse in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association rankings after winning by about six lengths in the Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga in June.
National Treasure (Flavien Prat riding) is the star of the 1⅛-mile Whitney, though the 12-horse field includes reigning Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Bright Future (Javier Castellano) and Oaklawn Handicap winner Skippylongstocking (Jose Ortiz), the fast allowance-level winner Arthur’s Ride (Junior Alvarado), and First Mission (Florent Geroux), the beaten favorite in the Stephen Foster.
At age 4, National Treasure, a son of Quality Road and the Medaglia d’Oro-sired mare Treasure, seems to be hitting his best stride.
“All of his races have been stronger,” Baffert said by phone as he left his barn at Del Mar one afternoon this week. “The Met Mile (Metropolitan Handicap) was great. Hopefully he keeps it going.”
What National Treasure is going toward isn’t certain with the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar three months away on Nov. 1 and 2. He could run again in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, in which he came within a nose of upsetting Cody’s Wish last year at Santa Anita. Or he could aim for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which at 1¼ miles is 110 yards longer than his 2023 Preakness victory.
“We don’t know yet,” Baffert said of the Breeders’ Cup plan. “We know the (Dirt) Mile is a good spot. I think a lot will depend on whole the whole (older males) division is shaping up.”
Adare Manor, like National Treasure, appears to be on the rise – or on the rise again – as she goes into the $400,000, Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, a 1-1/16-mile race for fillies and mares.
Last summer, the 5-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo and the Giant Gizmo mare Brooklynsway made the Hirsch the fourth of what became five wins in a row, a streak that ended with a seventh-place finish behind Idiomatic in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Adare Manor has started a new streak with romping victories in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park and the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita.
“I think she’s stronger (than a year ago),” Baffert said. “She’s a big amazon of a filly. She covers a lot of ground. But there’s some good horses coming in here to run against her, so it won’t be easy.”
If Adare Manor needs an extra edge in the Hirsch, she’ll have a style advantage. With jockey Juan Hernandez, she’s the classiest front-runner in the field of eight. Santa Margarita runner-up Coffee in Bed (Kazushi Kimura), the up-and-coming Sugar Fish (Tyler Baze), 2023 Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Umberto Rispoli) and Kentucky-based Scylla (Mike Smith) will have to catch her.
Baffert’s summers at Del Mar are often defined by his 2-year-olds. He has won 17 of the past 28 runnings of the Del Mar Futurity (on Sept. 8 this year) and 10 of the past 29 runnings of the Del Mar Debutante for fillies (Sept. 7). Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and American Pharoah won the Del Mar Futurity.
Baffert declined to say if his adrenaline, as he watches his 2-year-olds, is heightened by Churchill Downs’ July 19 announcement that it is lifting the suspension that kept him out of the past three Kentucky Derbies and Kentucky Oaks, a sanction stemming from Medina Spirit’s disqualification from victory in the 2021 Derby.
“It’s nice to have that behind me,” Baffert said of the Churchill Downs issue. “But we still don’t know if we have a Derby horse. Ask me again in the spring.”
Baffert’s early candidates for the major 3-year-old races in 2025 include at least three million-dollar auction purchases: Cornucopian, a $1.1 million son of Into Mischief; Moona Lisa, a $1.9 million daughter of Tiz the Law, and Nooni, a $1.8 million daughter of Win Win Win who already made her debut with a victory at Santa Anita in June.
His four wins in maiden special weight races at Santa Anita, Los Alamitos and Del Mar this year – more than any other trainer – include Midland Money (a son of Shancelot), Getaway Car (son of Curlin) and Casalu (daughter of Caracaro).
Another soon-to-debut colt, Authentic Spirit (Authentic), caught the eye July 19 when he worked in company with recent maiden runner-up Emerald Bay (Nyquist) at Del Mar and both were clocked in 58⅗ seconds for 5 furlongs. Baffert said Authentic Spirit is one of the young horses he’s asked about all the time, because he’s raced by My Racehorse, which sells fractional ownerships to hundreds of people at a time. (Seize the Grey had 2,570 owners when he won the Preakness.)
Baftert entered Authentic Spirit and Gaming (Game Winner) in a maiden sprint scheduled for Sunday, but the race didn’t draw enough horses to be run.
“He’s a nice horse,” Baffert said of Authentic Spirit. “He’s a little immature, like his sire.”
He’ll have more to say after these horses run.
“I don’t want to talk about 2-year-olds,” Baffert said. “I don’t want to jinx ’em.”
We will ask him again in the spring. In the meantime, his summer looks quite promising.
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at Twitter.com/KevinModesti.
Originally Published: August 1, 2024 at 5:50 p.m.
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