Velazquez stays on Eight Rings, Bast for the Breeders' Cup

The east-west connection of fellow Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and John Velazquez will carry on through the Breeders’ Cup, as New York-based Velazquez has committed to keeping the mounts on both Eight RIngs in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Bast in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Velazquez came west for one day to pilot both of Baffert’s star juveniles to Grade 1 victories Friday on the opening card of Santa Anita Park's Autumn Meet. He landed the assignments as a replacement for Drayden Van Dyke, who suffered what was described by doctors as a “crush injury” when Eight Rings veered in sharply and threw the 25-year-old in the Sept. 2Del Mar Futurity (G1).

Van Dyke had previously ridden Eight Rings to a debut win at Del Mar and Bast to a maiden-breaking win and victory in the Del Mar Debutante (G1). Van Dyke recovered in time to return to the saddle on Friday, but by then Baffert had already made other plans.

“Everyone with a top rider was calling wanting to ride Eight Rings,” Baffert said. “So I called Johnny up and asked him to come out. I said, 'You know he did that left turn there the other day and it looked pretty dangerous to me. Are you cool with coming out?' He said, 'Yeah, I’ll ride him. I know what to do to keep him focused.'"

Velazquez did exactly that, guiding Eight Rings to a sharp six-length victory in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1). Three races prior, Velazquez needed every bit of his experience to coax Bast to a narrow neck victory over Comical in the Chandelier Stakes (G1). 

Baffert said both Eight Rings and Bast were rightfully exhausted following their winning efforts, which came on a deep racetrack. 

“They both came out really well, but they were tired,” Baffert said. “And they were supposed to be. I had [Eight Rings] a little bit more wound up and ready for a big effort just in case..I had him ready for a Grade 1 dogfight. With Bast, I took it  easy on here. She still managed to gut it out. She’ll be ready next time.”

Baffert noted he and Velazquez have had previous success when occasionally partnering up over the years. Before Friday, their last winning stakes together came with Hoppertunity in the 2016 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

Baffert added it’s a particular benefit to have Velazquez on young and lightly-raced horses like Eight Rings and Bast. 

“I’ve had a lot of good luck with Johnny, won a lot of stakes him over the years,” Baffert said. “The thing is he really seems to fit my horses. He’s so good out of the gate and so great with young horses.”

As for Van Dyke, Baffert chalked up the lost opportunity to the vagaries of the game. Injuries happen, mounts are lost. The idea now is to learn from it and grow.

“He’s a young rider and is going to deal with that,” Baffert said. “I think he’ll learn from that spill. These are young horses and you have to keep them focused. They'll look around. But he'd [Eight Rings] never done that before in the morning. We’re still going to use him and work him back in there. It’s not like we just threw him out. He’s a young rider and a good kid with a good head on his shoulders. He’ll be back. “