Mastery perfect in the San Felipe Stakes, then injured

Saturday’s Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita was set up to be a real proving ground for Mastery. As impressive as could be in in three perfect starts at two, the highly regarded Bob Baffert trainee would find his toughest competition yet in the $400,000 prep for the 2017 Kentucky Derby, while making his three-year-old debut. The race itself turned out to be the easy part as the undefeated son of Candy Ride dominated his competition in electrifying fashion.

Unfortunately, and just strides after the wire, rider Mike Smith felt something off in the left hind of the easy winner. He hopped off the colt as soon as he could pull him up. Thankfully, the problem felt by the Hall of Fame rider did not seem to have the horse in immediate danger. Signs were good as Mastery walked on the horse ambulance and was taken off the track. Early reports from back at the barn were also promising. More information on the issue will be passed along as they become available.

This just in via Britney Eurton of TVG ... Bob Baffert has confirmed that Mastery sustained a condylar fracture in the front left, and is off the Kentucky Derby trail. Surgery will be performed on Monday, and two screws will be inserted. 

Smith did talk about what went wrong after the race. “He seemed to just go off in the left hind. I don’t know why. Nothing happened that made me think, ‘Oh, something just happened.’ He just all of the sudden went off and wouldn’t put weight on it. “I got off real quick and nothing seemed dislocated or anything. After he moved for a little bit he started walking fine on it so I’m hoping that maybe he just tweaked it or rolled it. I’m hoping it’s not that serious because he’s an incredible horse. I felt it about 10 jumps after the wire. All of a sudden he just picked up his back leg. At that point I couldn’t tell what it was. After a minute or so and he started walking, he seemed fine."

As far as the race itself, it was all about Mastery. Sent off as the clear 4-5 favorite, despite making his first start in three starts, the Cheyenne Stable owned dark bay soon made his way to the lead. His two main competitors would not let him get too far away early, as the field of seven scooted into the first turn.

Mastery led the field through open fractions of :23.50 and :46.79, as the second choice, Gormley, lapped on to him on the outside, and the recent San Vicente winner, Iliad, likewise moved up farther outside and less than a length behind Gormley. Heading into the far turn, the big three left the rest of the field behind, and the real running began.

The Grade 1 winner, Gormley was the first to say 'uncle', as Mastery continued to look comfortable on the inside. With the second choice falling away, it became a two-horse race as the Derby hopefuls hit the stretch. Iliad loomed on the outside, but Mastery leveled off beautifully and began to stride away from his final competitor. He received a few left-hand whips from Smith, and the race became a one-horse show, as Iliad had plenty left to hold second, but was no match for the 6 3/4-length winner.

“This is a really talented horse. The power…it’s endless with this guy," raved Smith. "He’s some kind of strong. He was hitting gears every time I asked him to. Gear down one, gear up two, gear down one. Everything seemed to come easy for him. That was a pretty impressive race. I’m just hoping everything is ok.”

Final time for the 8 1/2 furlongs was a sharp 1:42.28. With the victory, the $425,000 yearling purchase raised his record to a perfect four out of four. The San Felipe is his third graded stakes score, having accounted for the Bob Hope Stakes and the Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity last year. 

As the big favorite, Mastery rewarded his many backers with $3.60, $2.40, and $2.10 across the board. The exacta over the third choice, Iliad, returned $10.20, while the 4-6-1 trifecta completed by the rallying longshot, Term of Art, was good for $105.40.

Clearly on a short list of the best three-year-olds in the land, we now all cross our fingers and hope for a speedy recovery for this young and unbeaten star.