Belmont candidates Baeza, Rodriguez work at Santa Anita

Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Baeza worked six furlongs in company Friday at Santa Anita for trainer John Shirreffs. It was the second work since the Derby for the Curlin colt, who is pointed to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga.

Baeza worked in company with stablemate Westwood, who hasn’t started since finishing third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 5. Baeza, who was second in the Santa Anita Derby, was timed in 1:12.4, and Westwood was clocked in 1:13.4.

Another Belmont candidate on the tab was Rodriguez, who went seven furlongs in 1:24.8 for trainer Bob Baffert. Winner of the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct, the colt by Authentic was scratched from the Kentucky Derby because bruised hoof and bypassed the Preakness.

Other notables on the Santa Anita tab included Nysos, who returned from a 14-month layoff to finish second in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard, and Queen Maxima, a winner of five straight, including the Unbridled Sidney (G3) at Churchill Downs on May 2.

Nysos worked five furlongs in 59.2 seconds, which was the fastest of 14 works at the distance. A 4-year-old Nyquist colt, Nysos dead-heated for second in the Churchill Downs going seven furlongs, a neck back of winner Mindframe. It was his first start since winning the Robert B. Lewis (G3) in February 2024 at Santa Anita.

Queen Maxima drilled five furlongs in 1:00.8 for trainer Jeff Mullins. She’s 4-for-4 this year, with wins including the Wishing Well in February and Monrovia (G3) in April, both at Santa Anita.