West Coast '80 percent,' plus Baffert weighs in on 2-year-olds

As trainer Bob Baffert was talking this week with the hosts of KXnO’s Horse Racing Talk, the horse West Coast will be tasked with challenging in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes strolled by his barn.

“I hate to run him against Accelerate,” Baffert said, with the last-out Pacific Classic (G1) winner the expected favorite.

But there was no allowance race in the condition book that fit West Coast, and he needed a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic having not run since second in the March 31 Dubai World Cup.

Baffert said the 4-year-old son of Flatter, the reigning champion in his age group, is “about 80 percent” cranked for the 1 1/8-mile race.

“He’ll get something out of it, and if he runs well, then he can run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” Baffert said on Horse Racing Talk. “I need to get a race out of him. Here at home, I don’t have to ship him.”

Baffert had success as recently as last weekend bringing a Grade 1 winner off the bench to score in tough company when McKinzie took the Pennsylvania Derby.

“McKinzie was easier to get ready because he’s a great work horse,” Baffert said. “He was working just lights out. But West Coast has always been — racing does him justice. He won’t put out in the morning.

“He just goes as fast as his company, and I don’t have a lot of company that can go with him, you know?”

Collected, another Baffert trainee returning from a layoff, was out of the money in what could have amounted to a Classic prep, the Pa Derby Champion Stakes on the Pennsylvania Derby undercard. The trainer reported that the 5-year-old by City Zip “looked like he was struggling from the get-go. He came back — looks better now.”

The interview also included a rundown of his 2-year-olds. Game Winner, the horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita Park, looks like Baffert’s best shot at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with Roadster away from training for 45 days to fix a displaced palate.

“I think he’ll come back,” Baffert said of Roadster. “He’ll be really good.”

The Hall of Famer is looking forward to the second starts by Magic on Tap, Mucho Gusto and Tale of the Union. Each are highlighted on Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Radar looking for 2019 contenders. They likely won’t go in the Breeders’ Cup, as he looks for more than just the experience of a debut race for that spot.

Of course, we’ll stay tuned late into the winter, just to see whether there’s another Justify type of horse getting to the races late. In the meantime, Baffert said, “We’ve got some nice ones here that we’re getting ready.”