Barn Tour: Baffert updates on 5 juveniles + 6 familiar names

Bob Baffert has a stable full of talented 2-year-olds. There is not a lot of news in that statement.

As he prepares to send five of them into the featured stakes on closing weekend at Del Mar, he also has his eyes open to rival standouts from the foal crop of 2020.

“I think it’s a good crop,” Baffert said last week at Del Mar. “I’ve been very impressed with that Girvin colt, Damon’s Mound,” referring to the winner of the Saratoga Special (G2). He also said, “Steve Asmussen cut loose a monster (Echo Again). I had heard about that horse. Wow. Steve has had just a tremendous year. It’s fun watching Steve.”

But Baffert has a few of his own worth watching Saturday and Sunday in the Del Mar Debutante and the Del Mar Futurity, a pair of Grade 1 races worth $300,000 apiece.

He also is preparing 3-year-olds Taiba and Adare Manor for Grade 1 dates late this month at Parx Racing, not to mention Country Grammer’s next stop after he was a very distant second to Flightline in Saturday’s Pacific Classic (G1).

Baffert outlined his plans for this Horse Racing Nation Barn Tour.

Cave Rock, Havnameltdown and Newgate. Baffert expected to enter all three into Sunday’s Del Mar Futurity, a race he has won a record 15 times.

Cave Rock, a $550,000 Arrogate colt, won his 6 1/2-furlong debut by six lengths Aug. 13 at Del Mar. “He ran unbelievable,” Baffert said. “He had that 101 Beyer.” That speed figure from Daily Racing Form remains tied for the best from any 2-year-old in 2022. Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman own Cave Rock.

They also own Havnameltdown, who is 2-for-2 after winning as an odds-on favorite last month in the Best Pal (G3). The $200,000 Uncaptured colt has won at five and at six furlongs on the main track at Del Mar.

Newgate, whom Baffert called “a beautiful horse,” also scored as an odds-on choice, winning at 5 1/2 furlongs in his first start July 30 at Del Mar. The Into Mischief colt was bought as a yearling for $850,000 by a partnership led by SF Racing and including Jack and Laurie Wolf and Sol Kumin.

Fast and Shiny and Home Cooking. Baffert will try for his 11th win in this race – and his fourth in a row – with a pair of Del Mar maiden winners owned by Pegram, Watson and Weitman. Fast and Shiny, a $150,000 filly by Bernardini, was victorious at 6-1 odds going five furlongs in her debut Aug. 7. Home Cooking, an Honor Code filly who was bought for $260,000, was a beaten odds-on favorite in her first start. Then she broke her maiden at odds of 1-2, winning by a geared-down 9 1/4 lengths going 5 1/2 furlongs Aug. 21.

Taiba. The 3-year-old Gun Runner colt who is owned by Amr Zedan is headed to the 1 1/8-mile, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24. The Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner who was 12th in the Kentucky Derby is coming off an impressive, runner-up finish to Cyberknife in the Haskell (G1), “I was disappointed he didn’t win,” Baffert said.

Cyberknife subsequently finished second to Epicenter in the Travers (G1).

“(Cyberknife) ran a big race in the Travers, so I think the Haskell was a strong race. The Pennsylvania Derby is going to be a strong race. There’s going to be a good field, and he’s trained well.” Taiba might even be favored, especially since Todd Pletcher’s Dwyer (G3) winner Charge It went to the shelf with a foot abscess. “I’ve never really looked at who’s going where,” Baffert said. “I just worry about how my horses are doing.”

Adare Manor. Coming off a four-month break, the 3-year-old Uncle Mo filly will race Sept. 24 in the 1 1/16-mile, $1 million Cotillion, which is on the Penn Derby undercard. “I freshened her up a little bit,” Baffert said about the Grade 3 winner who finished second in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) and the Black-Eyed Susan (G2). “I was sort of disappointed in some of her races earlier, but she’s doing well. She deserves another chance at a $1 million race. I like going for the long ball.” Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Secret Oath, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, also was expected for the Cotillion.

Country Grammer. Nominated but not certain. That was what Baffert said the 5-year-old Tonalist horse’s status was for the Awesome Again (G1) on Oct. 1 at Santa Anita. The Breeders’ Cup Classic qualifier is a race that Baffert has won a record seven times, including the last two runnings. A 19 1/4-length loss Saturday to Flightline left this year’s Dubai World Cup (G1) winner a very distant second, but Baffert was pleased with that consolation prize. “He actually ran well,” he said. “He doesn’t really like this track (at Del Mar). It’s too firm for him. He wasn’t going to win; (Flightline) was gone. He showed up, but I think he’s a better horse than that. He needs pace. He needs a deeper racetrack.”

Armagnac and Messier. Baffert said he had no immediate plans for the 3-year-olds owned by SF Racing and its big partnership. Armagnac, a Quality Road colt, finished in last place Saturday in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. Baffert said it was back to the drawing board for him. Messier, a Canada-bred colt who was sired by Empire Maker, returned to the work tab late last month after fading to finish 15th in the Kentucky Derby. “We gave him some time off,” Baffert said. “He’s just getting back to breezing.”

Baffert added a footnote about his only Grade 1 winner this year. As Time Goes By got a top-level victory on her fourth try, finishing first March 5 in the Beholder Mile at Santa Anita. That was it for her racing career.

“She’s in foal to Into Mischief,” he said. “She got that Grade 1, and she got in foal about two weeks later. She was ready.”

The 5-year-old Take Charge Lady mare is a Coolmore homebred who is based in Kentucky.