Bob Baffert

Saturday's GIII Santa Ysabel S. proved yet another walk in the park for Michael Lund Petersen's 'TDN Rising Star' Kinza (Carpe Diem), who treated her seven other rivals to a front-running beating while not asked for anything close to her best. It was a second straight win in the race for Petersen, who sent out fellow Fasig-Tipton Midlantic acquisition and 'Rising Star' Faiza (Girvin) last year. The 1-2 chalk to add to her facile two-length victory in her two-turn bow in the GIII Las Virgenes S. going a mile Feb....

6th-OP, $115k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1m, 4:18p.m. ET Half-sister to last year's GIII Withers S. winner Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), FLASHY DANCER (Curlin) will be unveiled here for Gary and Mary West. Out of two-time Graded winner Actress (Tapit), who has also produced the winning Hot Rumor (Medaglia d'Oro), the second dam is Canadian champion Milwaukee Appeal (Milwaukee Brew). Riding a healthy work tab and picking up the services of Manny Franco, the morning line has Flashy Dancer tabbed at 8-5 odds. TJCIS PPs 4th-SA, $65k, Msw, 3yo, 6...

Juddmonte Farms' recent G3 Burj Nahaar romper Laurel River (Into Mischief) will bypass the Mar. 30 G2 Godolphin Mile and will instead stretch out to 10 furlongs for the first time in the G1 Dubai World Cup, Garett O'Rourke, the manager of Juddmonte's American operation, told the TDN Thursday morning. "It's worth a try. There's $12 million reasons to do it," he said. The homebred winner of the seven-furlong GII Pat O'Brien S. when under the care of Bob Baffert in 2022, Laurel River was favored in many circles for...

The GII Davona Dale S., run last Saturday at Gulfstream, was all about the return of Eclipse Award winner Just F Y I (Justify). But she was scratched with a fever, delaying her 3-year-old debut. At Aqueduct, Jody's Pride (American Pharoah) won the Busher S., picking up enough points to guarantee her a spot in the GI Kentucky Oaks. It will be a relatively quiet weekend for the horses on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. The GIII Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita will be headlined by Kinza (Carpe...

The stormy forecast that delayed the Big 'Cap card originally scheduled for Saturday at Santa Anita and the scratching of his sophomore sensation Nysos (Nyquist) did little to dampen Bob Baffert's day as Newgate (Into Mischief)'s last-jump victory in the GI Santa Anita H. gave the trainer three graded wins--plus, the exacta in the GII San Felipe S.--in Arcadia Sunday. The stallion-making partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, et al, co-owners of Newgate, doubled up on graded scores with Imagination (Into Mischief)'s win in...

Du Jour (Temple City) provided the second of trainer Bob Baffert's three graded stakes victories on the card when he powered home first in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Sunday. Owned by Jill Baffert and Debbie Lanni, the 6-year-old gelding settled towards the back of the field as Goliad (War Front) took the field through fractions of :22.82 and :45.75. The pacesetter was clear into the far turn, but his advantage soon evaporated at the top of the stretch. While 3-2 favorite Easter (Fr) (Exposhere {Aus})...

The GII San Felipe S. last its headliner with the scratch of the Bob Baffert-trained Nysos (Nyquist), but Baffert still dominated the race with stablemates Imagination (Into Mischief) and Wine Me Up (Vino Rosso) running in tandem for much of the 1 1/16 miles and in lockstep down the stretch before Imagination just got his nose in front on the wire Sunday at Santa Anita. Of his one-two finish in the San Felipe, Baffert said, "We're trying to develop these horses, so it was good for both of them. Wine...

Within the past three months, the purses for all three Triple Crown races have been raised. Paradoxically, this increase in prize money has coincided with a 2024 prep race season that is uncharacteristically light on emphatic, leap-off-the-page contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S., and GI Belmont S. The first weekend in March has traditionally served as a launch pad for sophomores who figure to excel in the spring Classics and beyond. Of all the prep stakes currently carded at 1 1/16 miles, the two that have historically...

Three days after a New Jersey federal judge ordered a class-action lawsuit filed in 2021 by a group of bettors against Bob Baffert to be transferred to a federal court in Kentucky, the legal team for the Hall-of-Fame trainer filed a motion seeking the reassignment of the case to a different, specific Kentucky judge who last summer dismissed a similar case against Baffert. Baffert's Feb. 23 filing in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) asked for the reassignment based on the following reasoning: "The Plaintiffs in this case...

In the previous four runnings of the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, American-based horses have--surprisingly--passed the post in first on a single occasion while finishing second on each occasion. That 'victory' came in the much-discussed inaugural running in 2020, a result that seems likely to soon be overturned, albeit to the benefit of another American horse. So, even though the U.S. is the epicenter of world dirt racing, its five representatives this year arguably still have something to prove when a field of 14 loads the gate around 12:40 p.m. ET...

A New Jersey federal judge's order on Tuesday transferred a class-action lawsuit brought by a group of bettors against trainer Bob Baffert to the Western District of Kentucky, meaning that the nearly three-year-old case will now go before its third different court since 2021. The original federal lawsuit was filed in California. In it, a group of horseplayers alleged they were cheated out of their property by Baffert when his betamethasone-positive trainee, Medina Spirit, crossed the finish wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby and purportedly prevented the plaintiffs from...

You may have noticed a change in the title of this column, from "Derby Top 12" to "Sophomore Top 12." Churchill Downs, Inc., has barred trainer Bob Baffert from competing in the GI Kentucky Derby, and that left us in a quandary over how to assess the nation's best 3-year-old prospects. It didn't seem right to dismiss the accomplishments of elite-level sophomores, regardless of whether they were eligible for the Derby or not. Nor did it seem proper to ignore the benchmarks their performances provide to help establish the overall...