National Treasure could be 1 of 3 for Baffert in Belmont Stakes

Baltimore

The morning after National Treasure provided Bob Baffert with his eighth Preakness win, it seemed like old times. Except it was not.

It was not so much the two years that passed since he last took part in a Triple Crown race. It was that he arrived at Pimlico with four horses, but he will leave with three.

“I’m still upset about losing that horse yesterday,” Baffert told reporters, still sounding rueful after the breakdown and death Saturday of Havnameltdown in the Chick Lang Stakes (G3). “My memory of this race is going to be about him. It just took all the fun out of it.”

Zipse: Preakness leaves plenty to be desired.

That meant a muted celebration of National Treasure making Baffert the winningest trainer in the 148-year history of the Preakness. When he heads back to California on Sunday night after a visit to the Fasig-Tipton sale in nearby Timonium, Md., he will consider next month’s Belmont Stakes as the next stop for National Treasure and his stablemate Arabian Lion, who won Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton. Baffert said both horses came out of their front-running victories under jockey John Velázquez in good shape.

“I think I’m going to leave them here maybe for a few days. I’m not sure yet,” Baffert said. “If they look good, I’ll ship them to Belmont to John Terranova’s barn.”

Warning that he could change his mind, Baffert leaned verbally toward stretching National Treasure from the 1 3/16 miles of the Preakness to the 1 1/2 of the Belmont on June 10. Arabian Lion and Reincarnate, a Grade 3 winner who is back at Santa Anita, also might be considered for the last of the 2023 classics.

“If I ran, definitely National Treasure would run in the Belmont,” Baffert said. “Johnny said of the two, he could have gone around here twice. They went so slow early, he just had so much horse. He couldn’t pull him up at the end. Arabian Lion, I’m not sure if he’s up for the mile-and-a-half, but he did run a big race yesterday. I have until tomorrow to make these calls.”

Baffert said an alternative for Arabian Lion could be the seven-furlong Woody Stephens (G1) on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

The yes or no on a Belmont run for Reincarnate might not happen for another week. Since the Good Magic colt was returned to him from his temporary stay with trainer Tim Yakteen, Baffert said the recovery from a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby was taking a little more time.

“He lost a lot of weight,” Baffert said. “He came back. He got light. He’s doing well. We’ve put 20 pounds on him already just in a little bit, and he’s a big, strong horse. It would be like a last-minute call.”

One thing is certain. Baffert and Velázquez have forged a successful partnership with front-running victories in high-profile races. There was Authentic in the 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic. There was Medina Spirit in the 2021 Derby, even if the victory was erased by a positive drug test that effectively sidelined Baffert from Triple Crown races for the last two years. Then throw in Arabian Lion as a curtain raiser Saturday for National Treasure, who provided Velázquez his first Preakness victory in 13 tries.

“The thing about Johnny is these great riders, they keep a good horse from getting in trouble,” Baffert said. “That’s the whole key. They have to break well. Johnny was really on it yesterday. I mean he was really in the zone (with four wins Saturday). That’s the thing. You can have the best rider, but if they’re not in the zone, they have a rough day.”

The winning style of this Hall of Fame combination is unmistakable. Take a California speed horse, and add one of the best front-running riders in racing history. Voilà.

“We talked about this horse,” Baffert said. “He had a plan, and the key was just getting away from there (at the start). After that we’ll see what happens. ... The thing is ride him like he’s 10-1. Don’t be overconfident. And that’s what he did.”

Faiza, the previously undefeated filly who finished third in Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan (G2), will be flown home to California on Tuesday. For Baffert and presumably the others, it is on to New York, where National Treasure might be in position to be the first horse to win back-to-back classics since Justify completed the 2018 Triple Crown for Baffert. If that were to happen, the Quality Road colt who cost Tom Ryan and his partners $500,000 at a yearling sale would be the early leader for the 3-year-old male championship of 2023.

“I think Mage, he’s a very good horse,” Baffert said. “The way he won the Kentucky Derby, it’s tough for him to come back in two weeks (to finish third in the Preakness). He’s lightly raced. But they’re very competitive. It’s a nice group. Forte is a really good horse, too. It’s a shame that he couldn’t make the Derby. It’s tough. You’ve got a horse undefeated who beat Mage, and then you can’t make the Derby. But I’m sure they’ll get him right, and he’ll be tough down the road, so he’ll be a factor.”

So, too, will Baffert, especially now that he is back in the Triple Crown mix.

“When I go to these races, I just go there focused on the races,” he said. “I just hope that I take a good horse up there, and we do well.”

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