Ky. Derby 2025 prep: Journalism upsets Barnes in San Felipe
Journalism stamped himself as a serious player on this year’s Kentucky Derby 2025 trail Saturday at Santa Anita.
Making his 3-year-old debut for trainer Michael McCarthy against a small field, Journalism ran down odds-on favorite Barnes in the stretch and won the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes, a Derby points prep for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
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Journalism (3-1), ridden by Umberto Rispoli, settled comfortably in fourth after breaking alertly. Of the three runners in the field trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, it was Barnes who went to the early lead (2-5) with stablemate Rodriguez (7-2) flanked to his outside and long shot Smooth Cruisein also up near the leaders.
Barnes set a pace of 23.71, 47.31 and 1:11.10 for six furlongs under Juan Hernandez. On the second turn Rodriguez and Smooth Cruisein began to weaken as Journalism just was finding his best stride. Angled to the outside for the stretch drive, Journalism took dead aim at Barnes and collared him inside the final furlong. He would proceed to win by 1 3/4 lengths with a time of 1:42.24 on the fast main track.
“He broke really sharp,” Rispoli said. “He is the kind of horse that for the first furlong he needs to adjust himself. The trip was perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better. Once I took him out and pressed the button, he put on the beast mode. He ran really strong.”
Runner-up Barnes finished 9 1/2 lengths clear of Rodriguez in third. It was another 4 1/2 lengths back to Mellencamp, also trained by Baffert, with Smooth Cruisein pulling up the rear in the field of five.
Because Berlin Wall was scratched, a new rule covering Derby preps with fewer than six starters meant the race was reduced from 50-25-15-10-5 points for the top five to 37 1/2 for Journalism, 17 1/2 for Barnes, 11 1/4 for Rodríguez, 7 1/2 for Mellencamp and 3 3/4 for Smooth Cruisein.
With a total of 47 1/2 qualifying points, Journalism historically enough to get him to the Derby.
“Obviously it’s nice to have a horse on the Triple Crown trail,” McCarthy said.
Journalism is a colt by Curlin out of the Uncle Mo mare Mopotism. This was his first start since winning the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) on Dec. 14, when he picked up his first 10 Derby points. He improved to 4: 3-0-1 with $338,880 in earnings.
“It is always great to have a horse that can take you places, and he looks like he is taking himself and everybody else with him,” McCarthy said. “I was fairly confident today. I wouldn’t say I was overly confident, but I thought he was doing well enough to make some noise today. It is a little overwhelming to think of where this horse could go.
As for previously unbeaten Barnes, who was making his first start around two turns, Hernandez noted he was just second-best on this day.
“He was driving really well. ... Honestly we just got beat by a great horse today,” Hernandez said. “This is his first time going two turns, and I think he ran great even after Journalism ran past me.
Journalism is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Elayne Stables 5 and Robert LaPenta. He paid $8.20, $2.80 and $2.10. Barnes returned $2.20 and $2.10. Rodriguez, ridden by Flavien Prat, paid $2.10.