Bob Baffert

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 6:30 p.m. Purchased for $725,000 just six months ago out of the OBS June Sale, WUDI (Uncle Mo) makes her afternoon bow where the turf meets the surf for owner Baoma Corp and trainer Bob Baffert. Out of a half-sister to MGSW His Race To Win (Stormy Atlantic) and to the dam of Canadian champion turf male El Tormenta (Stormy Atlantic) and GSW Zero Tolerance (Mizzen Mast), Wudi hails back to Canadian Horse of the Year and Eclipse...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Holiday Giving Campaign launches Tuesday and runs through Dec. 31. Those wishing to support accredited Thoroughbred aftercare can visit the TAA's website to make a donation and send digital holiday cards to colleagues, friends, and loved ones. Throughout the year-end campaign, the TAA will host special one-day only donation matching with some of horse racing's biggest names, including Denali Stud, West Point Thoroughbreds, Bob and Jill Baffert, and more. "While we gear up for the holidays, it is my hope that those of us in the...

Grade I winner Defunded, who skipped a shot at the Breeders' Cup, kept it rolling with a popular score in the GIII Native Diver S. Sunday at Del Mar. A second-out graduate last March at Santa Anita, the gelding was fourth in both the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby and GIII Pat Day Mile S. before running second in the GIII Affirmed S. and GIII Los Alamitos Derby. Scoring a pair of blowout allowance/optional claiming victories, he was a hard-fought runner-up in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup S. May 30,...

Looking to collect his second graded stakes win of the season, Havnameltdown proved he was up to the task with a professional score over stablemate Newgate in Sunday's GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar. One of three Baffert trainees in the short five-horse field, Havnameltdown and Hard to Figure (Hard Spun), breaking from the inside two gates, broke cleanly while Practical Move, exiting stall 6, was pinched back as the converging Newgate and Mixto (Good Magic) made their exit. The overly headstrong Hard to Figure proved hard to handle...

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez won a pair of races on the opening day of the Bing Crosby meet at Del Mar and his presence is something that Southern California is about to get more used to. The 50-year-old is using his time at Del Mar as a steppingstone to the winter stand at Santa Anita Park, where he plans to ride full time. "I wanted to get it started here so the trainers and owners know I'm going to be here for the winter," Velazquez told the Del...

Trainer Bob Baffert has accounted for seven of the last 11 winners of the GIII Bob Hope S., including two of the final three renewals when the race was known as the Hollywood Prevue S., and three out of the last four during the Bing Crosby meet capped by 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker) 12 months ago. It would appear that this year's running also goes through the Baffert shedrow, which sends out three of the seven entrants. Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) is the most accomplished of the trio and is...

GSW & MGISP American Freedom (Pulpit--Gottcha Last, by Pleasant Tap) has been sold to Bob and Tyree Wolesensky's Leadem Farm and will stand stud in Arkansas beginning the 2023 breeding season. American Freedom will command a stud fee of $3,500 LF. He stood at Airdrie Stud his first four seasons. The purchase was facilitated by Brock Martin and Steve Castagnola of Taylor Made Sales Agency. "We wanted to find the perfect match for Arkansas breeders and we are very happy with this beautiful son of Pulpit," Tyree Wolesensky, President of...

   Sent right to the front after a fast beginning by jockey Flavian Prat, FAIZA (Girvin--Sweet Pistol, by Smart Strike), a $725,000 2-year-old purchase out of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, hooked up early with Teena Ella (War Front) and outlasted her rival to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status on debut. The pair kept the pace honest, covering the first quarter in :21.92 as Teena Ella, the daughter of four-time champion Beholder, stuck a head in front and the top two pulled several lengths clear of the rest of the field....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                4th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:00 p.m. The third foal out of four-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes), TEENA ELLA (War Front) debuts Saturday for the same connections as her dam, owner/breeder Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella. Beholder, herself out of blue hen Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek), is a half-sister to the likes of GISW & top-10 freshman sire Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) as well as GISW & perennial leading sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday). The first of...

Gunned from the middle of the gate by jockey John Velazquez, Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo--Borealis Night, by Astrology) took over from the opening strides and never gave his opponents a chance, winning at first asking by 7 1/4 lengths to kick off Saturday's Breeders' Cup card with a bang and become the newest 'TDN Rising Star' for Bob Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables. The $2.3-million sale-topper at OBS April after a sharp :9 4/5 breeze, Arabian Knight went off with plenty of hype as the 3-5 favorite in a deep field...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                               1st-KEE, $150K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 10:30 a.m. After working an eighth of a mile in a blazing :9 4/5, ARABIAN KNIGHT (Uncle Mo) achieved a final bid of a sale-topping $2.3 million from Zedan Racing Stables at this year's OBS April Sale after fetching $250,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The first foal out of a half-sister to MGSP Kinsley Kisses (Congrats), the bay posted a trio of speedy works...

LEXINGTON, KY - Led by unbeaten sensation Flightline (Tapit), the 39th Breeders' Cup World Championships--consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million-- return to Keeneland for a third time with a two-day run beginning Friday. Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s--does it get any better than that?--are expected for the 'Future Stars Friday' program. Cave Rock (Arrogate) will put his unbeaten mark on the line for Bob Baffert in the Juvenile while Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke) headlines a wide-open renewal of the Juvenile Fillies....