San Felipe Stakes 2020: Post positions, odds and more
Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes marks a matchup of unbeaten Bob Baffert trainees on the 2020 Kentucky Derby trail, though they're hardly the only attraction in an eclectic field of seven set to go 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita Park.
With Derby qualifying points paid out on a 50-20-10-5 scale to the top-four finishers, the San Felipe also includes champion Storm the Court, who will look to improve off a fourth-place finish around one turn in his season debut. Honor A. P., a well-regarded maiden winner, finally exits his layoff dating back to that victory in October.
But back to the Bafferts: Authentic, who ran off despite running greenly in January's Sham Stakes (G3), looks to go favored over stablemate Thousand Words, a grind-it-out victor of consecutive preps, December's Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) and the Robert B. Lewis (G3) in early February.
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Something will have to give with colts that between them are 5-for-5 lifetime and looking to give Baffert a record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby victory this spring (along with a handful of other promising prospects from the Hall of Famer's barn).
Rounding out the San Felipe field are Grade 1-placed Wrecking Crew, a consistent board hitter; Fort McHenry, a former $1 million half-brother of California Chrome newly running for trainer Doug O'Neill; and Swagsational, a Turf Paradise import who has seen the light come on with three straight stakes victories after needing eight starts to break his maiden.
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TimeformUS' Pace Projector sees Honor A. P. on the early lead, though that's given a limited sample size. The son of Honor Code has run just twice and only once around two turns when he went to the front and overmatched his competition.
It's also unlikely that Thousand Words factors on the front quite as much as the speedy Authentic and Storm the Court, who should be more forwardly placed going from a sprint to this route.
Timeform anticipates a fast pace, and that seems accurate given Fort McHenry showed early foot for his prior connections; Wrecking Crew has been known to mix it up early. Perhaps this all combines to put Authentic under a bit more pressure than he faced in the dominant Sham win.
San Felipe Stakes on TV
Fox Sports 2 will televise "America's Day at the Races" from 5:30-7 p.m. ET Saturday with the San Felipe to go off at 6:01 p.m. ET. Additionally, wagering and a live stream are available via TVG, which offers enhanced coverage with each of Todd Schrupp, Simon Bray, Christina Blacker, Britney Eurton and Mike Joyce on site at Santa Anita.
San Felipe Stakes handicapping
• Full-field San Felipe analysis
• Honor A. P. offers the right value
Santa Anita's stakes lineup
Race 4: Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes (4 p.m. ET)
Race 5: Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (4:30 p.m. ET)
Race 7: China Doll Stakes (5:30 p.m. ET)
Race 8: Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes (6:01 p.m. ET)
Race 10: Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap (7:03 p.m. ET)
San Felipe Stakes preview
XBTV's Zoe Cadman and Jeff Siegel analyze Saturday's race...
Plus hear from Baffert...
And Peter Eurton, who trains Storm the Court: