GII San Vicente S.

Announcer Frank Mirahmadi said it best: friends in the morning, but rivals in the afternoons. Muth (Good Magic) put away stablemate Pilot Commander (Justify) en route to an authoritative victory in the GII San Vicente S. to open his 2024 season. First or second for all four starts in his juvenile season, including victory in the GI American Pharoah S. two back and a runner-up effort behind fellow Eclipse finalist Fierceness (City of Light) in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the betting public heralded this contest as Muth's to...

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will attack next Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita with quality and an awful lot of quantity. The nominees for the $200,000 race were released Saturday and 14 of the 16 nominated for the race hail from the Baffert stable. This Lewis will be run just six days after the GII San Vicente S. In that race, also for 3-year-olds, Baffert trains four of the five starters. The lone horse to take on Baffert in the San Vicente will be 20-1...

Foaling season is already underway at Springhouse Farm, where breeder Gabriel "Spider" Duignan says they are expecting to see around 50 new foals on the ground this year. On Saturday, Duignan enjoyed a brief respite from his work on the farm to celebrate a successful day on the racetrack. Forbidden Kingdom, a son of American Pharoah bred by Springhouse Farm, stamped himself as one to watch on the Triple Crown trail after he upset a trio of Bob Baffert runners in the GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita. Trained...

Kevin and Kim Nish of KMN Racing are looking forward to a big weekend of racing in California with not one, but two homebreds entered in stakes races at Santa Anita. On Saturday, What In Blazes (Straight Fire), a blaze-faced 3-year-old colt will make his third career start in the GII San Vicente S. After running a close second on debut, the colt was last seen defeating a field of maiden juveniles by nearly six lengths last July at Del Mar. "What in Blazes was brought up by Jerry Hollendorfer,"...

The business of buying racehorses is a constant test of balancing risks and opportunities. A month after Kerri Radcliffe signed for a son of Blame for $700,000-the joint highest price for a 2-year-old by the sire at auction-at Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale last March, one of the investors backed out. That left Radcliffe with an expensive colt on her hands, but an opportunity to put a transatlantic group of clients in on a horse she staunchly believed in. The ownership group of George Bolton, best known for campaigning international stars like...