USA: The Kentucky Derby trail hots up in Arkansas on Saturday [Jan 28] when Bob Baffert starts impressive maiden winner Arabian Knight in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
Second favourite for the Kentucky Derby with European bookmakers behind Breeders’ Cup winner Forte, the son of Uncle Mo will be making just his second career start and first around two turns in the G3 contest over a mile and a sixteenth.
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Baffert has won the race a record-tying five times, including last year with Newgrange. However, Arabian Knight is the least experienced horse he has ever taken to Oaklawn for their Kentucky Derby preps – a series he has dominated for more than a decade.
“It’s ideal to give them two races short and then stretch them out,” Baffert said. “But the way the timing is for him, he’s doing really well right now, sometimes you have to trust your quarterback that he can throw the long ball.
“I think his athleticism, sometimes, makes up for a lot of it. If you’re going to stretch them out, let’s run him with some nice horses and see how he can handle adversity and stuff.”There is, however, one major proviso when it comes to Baffert and this year’s Kentucky Derby, since any horse carrying his name is ineligible to accrue any qualifying points for the race.
Baffert is still suspended by by Churchill Downs, stemming from the controversial DQ of Medina Spirit in 2021 because of a medication violation. The case is under appeal but as it stands, any intended Baffert runner will have to switch stables before February 28 or they will be barred from racing on the first Saturday in May.
Zedan Racing Stables campaigns Arabian Knight after last year purchasing the colt for a whopping $2.3 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale of two-year-olds in training.
John Velazquez flies in for the ride Arabian Knight, who breaks from gate six in a nine-runner field also featuring unbeaten Kentucky hope Corona Bolt (Brad Cox/Flavien Prat) and Cox-trained stablemate Jace’s Road (Joe Talamo). Both have won stakes at Fair Grounds.
Velazquez partnered Arabian Knight to his debut victory on the Breeders’ Cup undercard at Keeneland on November 5, when he made all to score by 7¼ lengths.
“As a two-year-old in training he did cost $2.3m, so he went pretty fast,” Baffert said. “It was pretty obvious. But a lot of times they’ll work fast and they just don’t duplicate it on the dirt. You just don’t know how they’re going to do, but I think he’s progressed.”
Baffert said he decided not to rush Arabian Knight following the Keeneland victory and brought him up to his three-year-old debut off workouts. Baffert said he chose the Southwest over the $200,000 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at home at Santa Anita.
“Shipping and running,” Baffert said. “If he runs well, if the distance isn’t too much for him, if he gets tired – we’ll sort of see where we stand with him. We’ll find out how he stacks up against these. It’s a good field. It’s always tough at Oaklawn. The weather looks good; that’s a big factor.”
The gold standard for Baffert’s immense three-year-old success at Oaklawn remains, of course, American Pharoah, who opened his 2015 Triple Crown campaign by sweeping the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby.
American Pharoah won the Rebel off a 5 ½-month layoff. But he had three starts at two; on the other hand, Arabian Knight’s downtime is shorter, approaching three months, but he’s skipping his first allowance condition in his first route attempt.
“He ran such a big effort, that when they run a big effort like that, it’s good to give them a little time in between,” Baffert said. “You just want to keep their mind right. He has a good mind.
“I think the second race is probably the most important, to see if they can handle everything,” he added. “I’ve had them win first out and really struggle the second out. He’s had enough time and he’s worked. I would rather run him than train him.
“Basically, I had to train American Pharoah up to the Rebel. Different situation. We don’t know how good he is yet, so this is going to be a good test for him.”
Kentucky Derby betting (Bet365 bookmakers in UK): 10 Forte, 16 Arabian Knight, Cave Rock, Faustin, 20 Extra Anejo, Hejazi, Practical Move, 25 Instant Coffee, Victory Formation, Wildatlanticstorm, 33 bar (including Corona Bolt).
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