Ky. Derby contenders: Baffert races $3.55 million colt Sunday

Only 2000 winner Fusaichi Pegasus and 2009 also-ran Dunkirk made it to the Kentucky Derby after being sold at public action for more than $3 million.

If he lives up to his expectations, Hejazi could be the third.

Amr Zedan paid a record-breaking $3.55 million for the Bernardini colt last May at a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale. Winless in three tries in 2022, Hejazi tries to break his maiden Sunday when he makes his first start as a 3-year-old. He was expected to be an odds-on favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong opener at Santa Anita. Post time is 3:30 p.m. EST.

“It’s hard to believe he’s still a maiden given the (speed) figures he’s run and the way he works, but here we are,” bloodstock agent and Zedan adviser Gary Young told the Santa Anita notes team.

Hejazi is one of two Bob Baffert colts in the seven-horse field. Both he and Worcester are in the Las Vegas futures for Kentucky Derby 2023. Each was cut from 175-1 to 100-1 this week at Circa Sports. Hejazi held firm at 100-1 at Caesars Sportsbook.

Drawn into the rail post in a field of seven Sunday, Hejazi (4-5) placed second as the favorite in his first two starts, each a 5 1/2-furlong, $80,000 maiden race last summer at Del Mar. That second race, a loss to stablemate Speed Boat Beach, still earned Hejazi a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.

Hejazi jumped into Grade 1 company Oct. 8, when he finished a distant third to stablemate Cave Rock in the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah at Santa Anita. Mike Smith rode all three of those races and will be on Hejazi again Sunday.

“He’s come back and is working very well,” Young said of Hejazi, who returned from a break to work seven times since late November. “We expect him to run very well. Drawing the rail isn’t ideal, but we expect him to be able to handle these horses. Anything less than a win would be a disappointment.”

Worcester (4-1) returns only 20 days after a fourth-place finish in his first start. That was a six-furlong, $67,000 maiden race won at Santa Anita by highly regarded Faustin, another product of the Baffert stable. Juan Hernández gets the ride again on Worcester, this time from post 4.

Both Hejazi and Worcester will race on Lasix for the first time Sunday.

Even though Baffert is ineligible to take part in this year’s Derby, he eventually could transfer his contenders to other trainers to qualify them for the May 6 race.  

Sunday’s card may happen between storms at Santa Anita, where racing was canceled Saturday and Monday. The National Weather Service forecast a 60 percent chance of rain starting an hour after Sunday’s finale.