Baffert's Breeders' Cup Classic approach? 'It's not ideal'

Six months after Justify won the Kentucky Derby, becoming the first horse since 1882 to take it having not raced at age 2, trainer Bob Baffert heads into the Breeders’ Cup Classic exclusively with contenders going after the $6 million race off just one prep race apiece.

It’s as if the Hall of Famer felt the need to one-up himself on the return to Churchill Downs by entering both McKinzie (post 6, 6-1) and West Coast (post 7, 5-1).

“It’s not ideal, but you can get away with it if they’re really good horses,” he said of the prep schedule, “and they’re both really outstanding horses.”

The barn will await a potential defection to clear Collected (also-eligible, 30-1) to run as well. He too is among the Baffert bunch with just one start apiece since March, the product of slight setbacks and scheduled freshening.

For the 3-year-old McKinzie, the timing of a hock injury forcing him off the Kentucky Derby trail proved “a blessing in disguise,” Baffert said Tuesday. The son of Street Sense was viewed as his top Derby contender but ended up not having to face Justify, the Triple Crown winner.

“And now he’s come back and ran unbelievable off the layoff in the Pennsylvania Derby,” Baffert said, with the Sept. 22 feature at Parx Racing that one’s return to the track. “We know he’s a fast horse, but he’s still a little lightly raced. I think the way he’s been training — we’ll see how he gets over the track here — but he looks great.”

West Coast, the reigning 3-year-old champ, is seeking his first win since the 2017 Pennsylvania Derby. Since then he has run in the world’s most lucrative dirt races: last year’s Classic (third), the Pegasus World Cup (second) and Dubai World Cup (second).

The son of Flatter received more time away from the races than former stablemate Arrogate following the overseas trip. As a result, he’s run just once since then, finishing second to Classic favorite Accelerate in the Sept. 29 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita.

“The way he ran against Accelerate, he gave it his heart,” Baffert said. “He just got beat that day. He got tired. The one thing about him: He always shows up, and a mile and a quarter, he likes it.

“…I think he’s going to get a lot of action. I think he looks good. I really like him coming into this race. He’s doing really, really well, so I expect a big race from him.”

Baffert said Accelerate has a one-pace kind of style that makes him appear “stronger as the race goes.” McKinzie also shot to the front early in his last race.

“I think my horses, they’re going to be up close,” he said of the Classic. “They have speed. They have natural speed. I see them being pretty close to the pace.”

Baffert could saddle multiple other favorites on Breeders’ Cup weekend with Abel Tasman a top contender in the Distaff, Marley’s Freedom a leader in the Filly & Mare Sprint and Game Winner the Juvenile favorite.

As for the last of those three, Baffert sees another shot at the Triple Crown incoming in 2019.

“I think he’s the kind of horse that could maybe get his name on that sign right there hopefully,” Baffert said outside his Churchill Downs barn, where plaques honoring Derby winners Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem, American Pharoah and Justify dot the wall. “He’s that kind of horse.”