Bob Baffert

LEXINGTON, KY - With Keeneland's illuminated grandstand apron already beginning to fill up, Breeders' Cup weekend's main attraction Flightline (Tapit) once again kickstarted training hours with another spirited 1 1/4-mile gallop just after 6 a.m. After having a quarter crack patched on Wednesday, fellow Classic runner and future Airdie stallion Happy Saver (Super Saver) returned to the track for light training shortly thereafter. The Steve Asmussen-trained duo of Gunite (Gun Runner) (Dirt Mile) and champion sprinter Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) made a big impression beneath the lights as temperatures hovered...

Fort Warren (c, 2, Curlin--La Appassionata, by Bernardini), a $550,000 Keeneland September yearling acquisition, took race-long pressure through fast internal fractions and clung on gamely late to graduate at first asking Sunday at Santa Anita en route to the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction. He is the 22nd 'Rising Star' for his leading Hill 'n' Dale-based stallion. Away only fairly from the inside gate, Fort Warren had to be used some by go-to rider Juan Hernandez, but speared through to take up the running and covered the opening couple of furlongs...

John Velazquez wouldn't give a definitive answer on where Gamine (Into Mischief - Peggy Jane, Kafwain) ranks on the list of all-stars the Hall of Fame jockey has been associated with over the years, but he came pretty close. Asked how the champion sprinter stacks up against a long line of high-class fillies he has ridden to Grade I success, he responded, "She's definitely one of the top ones. Like definitely one or two, I would say." That answer is high praise coming from the two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, who...

I called the elite bloodstock agent Donato Lanni last Wednesday only to tell him I'd call him again Sunday and to expect my call. I was fortunate he picked up, because he was on a golf course enjoying a rare day off following a busy Keeneland September sale where he'd purchased a number of million-dollar yearlings among many others. When we made plans to speak again, neither of us mentioned why I'd be calling. I didn't want to jinx him, with Cave Rock (Arrogate), War Like Goddess (English Channel), and...

Bob Baffert, whose juvenile colts made up the superfecta in Saturday's GI American Pharoah S. led by 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate), unveiled yet another potential superstar Sunday at Santa Anita in the form of Zedan Racing Stables Inc.'s $600,000 OBSAPR acquisition Arabian Lion (Justify). The :10 flat breezer was pounded down to 3-5, with workmate Elwood Blues (Justify) next in the betting at 5-2. The wagering public got it right. Arabian Lion emerged with the early advantage as Elwood Blues rushed up in between foes to be second...

Saturday's pair of Grade I dirt routes for 2-year-olds solidified intriguing subplots while establishing the three likely favorites for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) cemented kingpin status with a thorough shellacking of the GI American Pharoah S. field at Santa Anita. But fellow 'Rising Stars' Forte (Violence) and Loggins (Ghostzapper) might have delivered the more nuanced performances with their length-of-stretch slugfest in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland, which supplied both colts with valuable race-over-the-track experience heading into the Nov. 4...

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) led home a one-two-three-four finish for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita. It was the 11th winner for Baffert in the race named in honor of his 2015 Triple Crown winner. The eye-catching last-out GI Del Mar Futurity winner, off as the 2-5 favorite here, went straight to the front in this two-turn debut, led comfortably through fractions of :22.96 and :46.82 and seemed to play possum a bit on the...

6th-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:38 p.m. EDT Bob Baffert unveils a pair of colts by his undefeated Triple Crown winner Justify in ARABIAN LION and Elwood Blues. Arabian Lion summoned $600,000 at the OBS April Sale after breezing in :10 flat. Out of SP Unbound (Distorted Humor), the chestnut enters off a trio of bullet works all in company with Elwood Blues. The pair most recently breezed a best-of-59 five furlongs in :58 4/5 at Santa Anita Oct. 2 with Elwood Blues. The group known as the Three Amigos...

2nd-KEE, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:31p.m. ET Conditioner Brendan Walsh sends out a blue-blooded filly here in HUMBLING (Quality Road), who lays claim to a stellar female family which includes 'TDN Rising Star', GISW (and eventual producer of 'Rising Stars') Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union) and GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister). The former has a pair of talented offspring to her credit when counting GISW Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) and GSP Union Jackson (Curlin). Humbling, a $1 million FTSAUG purchase by Jeff Drown and Michael Ryan in 2021,...

With Breeders' Cup weekend at Keeneland right around the corner, 15 graded stakes--including seven 'Win and You're In' events--will take place throughout North America on an absolutely loaded day of racing Saturday. Five of those graded races will go down in Lexington, including a stacked renewal of the 'Win and You're In' GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. The overflow field of 14 (plus two AE's)'s lone graded winner, GI Hopeful S. hero and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), bypassed last weekend's GI Champagne S. in favor of this first attempt around...

Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Speed Boat Beach (Bayern), owner of a gaudy 104 Beyer Speed Figure for his Sept. 10 debut score on the Del Mar dirt over $3.55-million stablemate Hejazi (Bernardini) after blazing a furlong in a bullet :9.3 at OBSMAR, took to the turf with aplomb in Sunday's Speakeasy S. at Santa Anita, earning an automatic berth into the starting gate for the Nov. 4 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Backed like a lock at 2-5 making a rare dirt-to-turf move for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert,...

Defunded, who had been knocking on the door at the graded level for the last year and a half, picked a good time to break through as he led home a one-two for Bob Baffert in this "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Runner-up in both the GIII Affirmed S. and GIII Los Alamitos Derby last term, the chestnut was transferred to Sean McCarthy for his first two tries of 2022--a dominant optional claiming tally going a local mile and a runner-up finish in the...