Santa Anita Derby: O’Neill to saddle four, Baffert three

Associated PressApr 5, 2017, 9:45 PM EDT

Getty Images

ARCADIA, Calif. — Trainer Doug O’Neill will saddle four horses in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, including 7-2 early favorite Illiad. Bob Baffert has three contenders, including two horses that are co-third choices at 5-1.

Baffert is taking aim at extending his record of seven wins in Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile race, the West Coast’s major prep for the Kentucky Derby.

O’Neill has won the race two times. Besides Iliad, he entered Term of Art, So Conflated and Milton Freewater on Wednesday, when a total of 13 horses were entered for the 80th edition of the Grade 1 race.

Baffert’s trio is Reach the World, American Anthem and Irish Freedom. Reach the World and American Anthem are co-third choices with Battle of Midway, trained by fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer.

The winner earns 100 points on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, which decides the field of 20 horses for the May 6 race. Second place is 40 points, with 20 to third place and 10 to fourth place.

John Shirreffs, who won the 2007 Santa Anita Derby, entered Gormley and Royal Mo, both owned by Jerry and Ann Moss. They won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with 50-1 shot Giacomo.

Trained by O’Neill, Illiad won the San Vicente by 3 1/2 lengths on Feb. 12 and finished second in the San Felipe on March 11. The colt has two wins in four career starts and earnings of $227,345.

Gormley won the Sham on Jan. 7 and finished fourth in the San Felipe. He has three wins in five career starts and earnings of $320,000.

Reach the World is stepping up in class to run in a stakes race for the first time in his fourth career start.

American Anthem is looking to rebound after finishing 10th in the Rebel at Oaklawn on March 18. Baffert said he lost a shoe while getting beat by 13 1/2 lengths. He then finished second in the Sham, losing by a head to Gormley.

The field in post position order with jockeys and odds (all carry 124 pounds): Term of Art, Tyler Baze, 124 pounds, 12-1; Reach the World, Mike Smith, 5-1; Battle of Midway, Corey Nakatani, 5-1; Comma Sister, Israel Ocampo, 50-1; So Conflated, Mario Gutierrez, 15-1; American Anthem, Martin Garcia, 124, 5-1; Kimbear, Joe Talamo, 124, 12-1; Gormley, Victor Espinoza, 124, 9-2; Iliad, Flavien Prat, 124, 7-2; Milton Freewater, Tiago Pereira, 124, 30-1; Irish Freedom, Rafael Bejarano, 124, 20-1; Midnight Pleasure, Jamie Theriot, 124, 30-1; Royal Mo, Gary Stevens, 124, 10-1.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.