Bob Baffert

Frankie Dettori's Southern California sojourn could scarcely have gotten off to a more positive start, as the legendary jockey rode a three-timer on the opening day of the winter/spring meeting at Santa Anita Park just outside of Los Angeles. In the first of his four rides on Boxing Day, Dettori was reunited with the Country Grammer (Tonalist), with whom the Italian won his record-equaling fourth G1 Dubai World Cup last March, in the GII San Antonio S. (video), a potential steppingstone to yet another Middle East appearance. Handy to the...

Who was the most talented 3-year-old male to race this year? I will not argue with anyone who says the answer is Epicenter (Not This Time). He won the GII Louisiana Derby, finished second in the GI Kentucky Derby and second in the GI Preakness S. From there, he won the GII Jim Dandy S. and the GI Runhappy Travers S. before an injury kept him from finishing the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Other than the Classic, he finished first or second in all of his starts and won four...

On a record-setting opening day at Santa Anita, Zedan Racing Stable's Taiba (Gun Runner) earned his third Grade I victory and bolstered his chances for an Eclipse award with a 4 1/4-length victory in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. Monday in Arcadia. The win was the fifth on the card for trainer Bob Baffert, who recorded three graded victories with Fun to Dream (Arrogate) winning the GI La Brea S. and Country Grammer (Tonalist) taking the GII San Antonio S. Baffert was also represented by Faustin (Curlin), who was tabbed...

Jill Baffert and Connie Pageler's Fun to Dream, beaten just once now in six trips to the post, scored her first graded victory with a determined win in the GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita Monday. Fun to Dream shadowed the pacesetters three wide down the backstretch. She stuck her head in front at the top of the lane and held Awake at Midnyte--the only horse so far to have finished in front of her--at bay down to the wire to score by 3/4 lengths. "This horse is getting...

Country Grammer, reunited with Frankie Dettori for the first time since winning the G1 Dubai World Cup in March, strode home an easy winner of the GII San Antonio S. at Santa Anita Monday. Sent off the 3-5 favorite, Country Grammer was hustled from his outside post by Dettori, but was unable to match the speed of his inside rivals and was caught four wide into the first turn as Hopkins (Quality Road) took the early lead and was in front through fractions of :22.76 and :46.16. Country Grammar rolled...

Things didn't look especially promising for those who crunched Michael Lund Petersen's Faustin (c, 2, Curlin--Hard Not to Like, by Hard Spun) into 90 cents on the dollar in the early stages of the first juvenile test of the new meet at Santa Anita Monday afternoon. But the gunmetal gray colt did his best work through the line to graduate by open lengths and become a new 'TDN Rising Star.' The March foal was not off to the most alert of beginnings and was no better than midfield and under...

The Kentucky Derby points are back on the table in December. Well, for trainers Leandro Mora and Tim Yakteen that is, as it is once again time for the GII Los Alamitos Futurity. In prior contests, it would have been 10-4-2 or 1 to the top four finishers, but since we only have a five-horse field, and with Bob Baffert currently forced to abrogate his Derby egg hunt despite yet another re-christening of his legal stab at Churchill Downs, it is just Mora and Yakteen that are eligible. Out of...

Trainer Bob Baffert filed a new motion in federal court Thursday that attempts to reverse the second year of a two-year banishment imposed upon him in 2021 by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), the gaming company that controls the GI Kentucky Derby. Although the Hall of Fame trainer's ruling-off by CDI extends to the corporation's entire portfolio of racetracks, gaining access to the Derby itself is unquestionably Baffert's goal. Baffert's trainees have crossed the finish wire first a record seven times in America's most historic and important horse race. But it...

'TDN Rising Star' Faiza (Girvin) narrowly outslugged Pride of the Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) and survived a stewards' inquiry to deliver as the 1-2 chalk in a roughly run renewal of the GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Saturday. The win marked the sixth straight Starlet victory and ninth overall for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. The flashy six-furlong debut winner at Del Mar Nov. 12 was making her two-turn debut in the Starlet. Placed in a perfect spot by Flavien Prat in an outside, stalking third through fractions of...

When it comes to "sire-making races," the Gl Metropolitan H. is usually the first that's thrown into the conversation. Quality Road, the 2010 winner, is the most notable recent example, and before him it was Ghostzapper in 2005, but that's about it for the past 20 years despite the race's vaunted reputation. The Gl Florida Derby is a better recent gauge for making stallions: Nyquist (won in 2016), Constitution (2014), Dialed In (2011), Quality Road (2009), Scat Daddy (2007), Empire Maker (2003), and Harlan's Holiday (2002) are a stronger group...

Faiza (Girvin), named a 'TDN Rising Star' off an impressive debut score Nov. 12 at Del Mar, will be supplemented for $10,000 to the $300,000 GI Starlet Saturday at Los Alamitos. The Starlet, which is for fillies at 1 1/16 miles, is the first of four stakes events for 2-year-olds to be run during Los Al's six-day Winter Thoroughbred meet that opens Friday. Owned by Michael Lund Petersen, who won the 2015 GI Los Alamitos Futurity with Mor Spirit (Eskendereya), and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Faiza cruised...

Stretching out on the grass for the first time, Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Speed Boat Beach (Bayern) gave the Bob Baffert barn a rare graded stakes victory on turf in Sunday's GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. at Del Mar. Off at 17-10 after touching 6-5 late in the wagering, Speed Boat Beach showed good early speed, but Game Time (Not This Time) speared through at the fence to take up the running into the first turn. Speed Boat Beach settled nicely for this first go at a route of ground...