Barnes, Nysos could star in Baffert party at Santa Anita

Santa Anita has been run by families like the Strubs and the Stronachs, and there was a real-estate company called Meditrust in between. Through all the owners in the last four decades, it really has been Bob Baffert’s house.

When the track’s 91st winter opening arrives two days late Sunday, it may as well be the Hall of Fame trainer’s Christmas after-party. Led by two-time graded-stakes winner Barnes, Baffert has five of the 10 horses entered in the Grade 1, $300,000 Malibu Stakes, the last big showcase for 3-year-olds who are about to turn 4.

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“It’s a good Malibu,” Baffert told Horse Racing Nation on Monday in a telephone interview from Southern California. “It’s a strong field even though there’s not a Grade 1 winner in there. But there will be a Grade 1 winner after the race is over. I just hope it’s one of mine.”

Therein lies the rub. Baffert could win the Malibu for a record seventh time, but almost all of what there is of his competition comes from neighboring barns at Santa Anita. Long shot Spenard, who raced this month in New Mexico, is the only shipper. Tex Sutton Equine Air Transportation has not had a plane at its beck and call for 4 1/2 years, and FedEx is too overloaded with holiday packages to ship horses in December.

This Baffert bash does not have many RSVPs from outside the 91007 ZIP code anymore.

“It’s a tough ship when you have to ship,” Baffert said. “Tex Sutton, we miss it so badly. Nobody seems to address it but (client owner) Tom Ryan. It’s frustrating, because it’s so important. Believe me, it’s painful, and it hurts California racing.”

There are six graded stakes on Sunday’s card, and Baffert has 10 horses entered across the three that will be run on dirt. Nysos, who has the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) as a goal Feb. 14, is the biggest name from his stable going in the other races. He is the 3-5 morning-line favorite in the Laffit Pincay (G2).

But the Malibu is the race most often associated with opening day, and Barnes looks like the perfect fit going the seven furlongs. The $3.2 million Into Mischief colt is the 3-1 program favorite. Owned by Amr Zedan, he was the Las Vegas futures favorite in January for Kentucky Derby 2025. That was before he lost a pair of two-turn Derby preps at Santa Anita. Barnes never made it back to Churchill Downs, but an 8 1/4-length victory in the Perryville (G3) at Keeneland on Oct. 18 franked him as a legitimate standout at seven furlongs.

“We had to give him a crack at (the Derby),” Baffert said, “but he’s definitely one turn. Most horses are one turn. If you look at him, he’s a big, beautiful, strong horse. He’s gorgeous. He’s well drawn (in post 9 with jockey José Ortiz). We’ve got good riders here. It’s rare that all those good riders who come out. It goes to show you how important the Malibu is.”

Baffert said he expects all five of his entered horses to start Sunday. They include impressive and rested maiden winner Cornucopian (7-2), allowance victor Midland Money (7-2), three-time Grade 1-placed Goal Oriented (5-1) and Woody Stephens (G1) runner-up Madaket Road (5-1).

“Madaket Road, he’s another one that’s coming into this race really well,” Baffert said. “Midland Money ran a big race off the pace the other day (finishing second in a Nov. 30 Del Mar allowance). He learned to relax a little bit. Goal Oriented, if they go too fast early, he might just come and run them all down. And Cornucopian, we saw his brilliance (winning his Oaklawn debut in February). He’s coming off a long (eight-month) layoff, but he’s had that brilliance. It’s a very competitive race, and it’s hard to really separate them. It depends on the pace.”

The 1 1/16-mile Pincay for 3-year-olds and up reckons to be the Nysos show. The 4-year-old Nyquist colt primarily owned by Baoma Corp is 7: 6-1-0 with his first Grade 1 victory coming Nov. 1 in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Before committing to the Pincay Stakes, Baffert thought about having Nysos train up to his trip to the Middle East before entering him in the Pincay.

“I was debating whether to just wait for the Saudi Cup and wait and wait,” he said. “I just thought I’d rather run him than just train, train, train. If you get a race into him, you don’t have to do much to get ready for the Saudi Cup.”

Among the six other Pincay entrants, Nysos’s closest competitor for favoritism if not the race itself could come from 3-year-old stablemate Nevada Beach, who is 2-1 on the morning line. The Goodwood (G1) winner bounced back from a seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to finish first Nov. 22 in the 1 1/8-mile Native Diver (G3) at Del Mar.

“He’s a good horse, and he’s also eligible for the Saudi Cup if I wanted to go with him,” Baffert said. “You never know. It’s either that or go to the Pegasus.”

Asked whether he knew who he was prioritizing for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park, Baffert stopped short of committing himself.

“I could change my mind and take Nysos down there or one of those Malibu horses,” he said.

Baffert also has allowance winner Usha (9-2), maiden victor Brilliantly (5-1) and two-time graded-stakes-placed Silent Law (10-1) going seven furlongs Sunday in the La Brea (G1) for 3-year-old fillies. Mark Glatt-trained Formula Rossa (3-1) is the program favorite.

Football games and the annual family trip Jan. 1 to the Rose Bowl have had some of Baffert’s attention lately when he has been away from the track. Otherwise he hopes for another successful party Sunday at Santa Anita. And he yearns for opening days in the future to look again like the not-so-old days when the track welcomed horses from across the country.

As he summed it up, “It’s so important to our industry, these races.”