Cezanne stays perfect with solid win at Los Alamitos; Derby prep next?

High-priced colt Cezanne improved to 2-for-2 on Thursday with a comfortable win against four rivals in a one mile entry-level allowance/optional claimer at Los Alamitos on Thursday.

Sent off the 1-9 favorite, Cezanne and Flavien Prat stalked a couple lengths back of stablemate Bronn through fractions of :23.02 and :46.24 for the opening half mile. Cezanne began to steadily cut into Bronn's lead on the far turn and drew on even terms through six furlongs reached in 1:10.63. 

Cezanne, making his first start around two turns, then put away Bronn at the top of the stretch and continued steadily to the wire to hold off rallying longshot Mongolian Legend by about two lengths. Bronn held on for third third ahead of Itsthattime. 

Trained by Bob Baffert, Cezanne completed the trip on a fast track in 1:35.99. He paid $2.20.

“I think he made the lead a little early and was kind of lost (late in the stretch), but I thought it was good,’’ Baffert said. “We wanted to get a nice two turn race into him. He needed it and he ran pretty fast.

Only four Kentucky Derby preps remain on the schedule. Cezanne could stay local and try the Aug. 1 Shared Belief further south at Del Mar, which offers 50 points to the winner. Other potential options would include the July 18 Haskell (G1) or Aug. 8 Travers (G1), each of which provides 100 points to the winner; or the Aug. 9 Ellis Park Derby, which pays out 50 points to the winner.

Following the race, Baffert indicated a trip outside of California could be in the offing for Cezanne.

"He’s got a ways to go, but he’s improving," Baffert said. "We’ll have to see how he comes out of this, but we’ll try to find a little stakes race for him, probably out of town.’’