As with Justify, Nadal's on a fast track to the Kentucky Derby
With Nadal on an accelerated path toward the 2020 Kentucky Derby, trainer Bob Baffert was looking for a stiff test in Saturday’s San Vicente Stakes (G2). That’s exactly what unfolded.
Making just his second start, Nadal was hounded every step of the way by Ginobili going seven furlongs before finally inching away from that game rival in the late going. He earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
Baffert considers the race to be a big step in Nadal's education.
“I figured they would take it to him, although I didn’t think they would go that fast,” Baffert said, referring to fractions of :21.01 and :44.09 for the opening half mile. “I told [Joel Rosario], 'Don’t get cute with him today. Let’s get this out of the way. Don’t grab him today. We can rate him another day. If he’s going to get beat, let him get beat.'
"I really trained him light for this race. I wanted him to have to gut it out. Those good horses, they find a way.”
Nadal is on a path toward the Kentucky Derby similar to what Baffert blazed in 2018 with Justify, a similarly late-debuting colt who went on on to capture the Triple Crown.
Nadal was unveiled Jan. 19 at Santa Anita, while Justify won his bow on Feb. 18. Justify came back three weeks later to dominate a Santa Anita allowance going to two turns. Nadal returned in three weeks to conquer stakes company, though in an elongated sprint.
Baffert expects Nadal to stretch out next with Oaklawn Park's March 14 Rebel Stakes (G2), a $1 million race, his likely target.
“Now he’s ready. I got a good foundation. He’ll get a lot out of that,” Baffert said. “That was a strong race for him and he got to gut it out. You want to see that.”
Whereas Justify went into the Kentucky Derby off three starts, Nadal's schedule allows for a fourth outing in a major prep. His relatively late arrival to the races was due to an incident that occurred last summer as Baffert shipped horses south from his Santa Anita Park base to Del Mar for the summer meet.
“He had a little trailer accident,” Baffert said. “He got a hind leg over a divider. It was just weird. He really scraped up his hock. It took him like a month to get over that, and then he wasn’t traveling well. I wasn’t happy with him, so we just took it easy with him. We let it heal up and completely brought him back slowly.”
Bred by Sierra Farm, Nadal is a Blame colt out of the Pulpit mare Ascending Angel. He sold for $65,000 at auction as a yearling, then the following year fetched $700,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-year-olds in training sale. He is owned by George Bolton, Arthur Hoyeau, Barry Lipman and Mark Mathiesen.
“I was thinking of taking Authentic to the Southwest, but then I thought he’s still really immature and is doing well here. So we’ll stay for the San Felipe," Baffert said.
Thousand Words, who is perfect in three starts with wins in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) and Robert B. Lewis (G2) on Feb. 1, is also likely to stay for the San Felipe.
“They’re going to have to hook each other at some point, so you can’t really worry about that,” Baffert said. “We just need to get some racing in them and get that good foundation. We’re all trying to get in that big, brand-new gate [at Churchill Downs].”
Both the Rebel and San Felipe pay Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 basis to their top four finishers, with the winning shares likely enough to secure a spot on the first Saturday in May.