ARCADIA — It got repetitive, but never got boring, when Bob Baffert’s horses won all three of the Grade I and Grade II stakes the Hall of Fame trainer entered at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday.
Nevada Beach and jockey Mike Smith gave Baffert an upset victory as the bettors’ 8-1 third choice in the Goodwood Stakes on Saturday. Imagination and Juan Hernandez gave Baffert another unexpected win as the 5-1 third choice in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sunday. And in between, unbeaten Cavalieri and Hernandez came through for Baffert as 7-10 favorites in the Zenyatta Stakes on Sunday – but did it in a dramatic, unlikely way.
Cavalieri was unprepared for the start and hopped when the gates opened, spotting the leaders about four lengths in the 1-1/16-mile Zenyatta, a $200,000, Grade II race that serves as a proving ground for Breeders’ Cup Distaff contenders.
“She was nervous,” Hernandez said. “It was a little while since the last time she ran (in March), so I guess she was a little excited. Even in the post parade, she was acting (up) a little bit.”
But the 4-year-old filly quickly recovered, got up to stalk stablemate Richi on the backstretch, drew even from the outside on the turn for home and wore down the 5-year-old mare to win by 1¾ lengths in 1:42.64, a faster-than-normal time for the Zenyatta.
“Never a doubt,” Baffert joked.
Cavalieri paid $3.40 for a $2 win bet. Richi held on for second, and Howin made it an all-Baffert trifecta on top of the trainer’s seventh victory in the race known as the Lady’s Secret from 1993 to 2011.
Cavalieri, a daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, had never come from off the pace in her four previous wins, including the Grade I Beholder Mile at Santa Anita in March. The new dimension could improve her chances in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1, the second day of the event at Del Mar.
The Distaff will be Cavalier’s first try at 1⅛ miles. The stretch-out will be no problem, Baffert said: “She wants to go a mile and a quarter.”
For Richi, meanwhile, the Zenyatta result confirmed Baffert’s impression that she’s better in long sprints, of which the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint is the richest available.
Distance was also part of the intrigue with Imagination, the 4-year-old who made a sweeping rally from fifth in the 6-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship, a $200,000, Grade II race that produces contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Imagination, a $1.05 million son of Into Mischief, had flashed his talent by winning the San Felipe and just missing against Stronghold in the Santa Anita Derby at 3 but was 0 for 3 in sprints and seemed to be entered Saturday just for exercise after being sidelined since January.
“He’s more of a miler,” Baffert said of Imagination, who was clocked in 1:09 flat and paid $13.20. “But the freshening really helped. He came back a different horse.”
The race was supposed to spotlight Straight No Chaser, the 6-year-old looking for a repeat win in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and then the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Sent off as a 7-10 favorite, he led into the deep stretch before being passed by Imagination, a 1¾-length winner, and Dr. Venkman, who got second by a half-length.
It was Straight No Chaser’s first start since a Middle East trip that produced a win in Saudi Arabia in February and eighth-place finish in Dubai in April.
“I thought he ran good,” jockey John Velazquez said after riding Straight No Chaser Sunday. “It had been a long time (since he raced). Hopefully, he’ll be ready for the Breeders’ Cup.”
Imagination and Straight No Chaser could meet again in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Baffert indicated it’s a possibility for Imagination, something he probably hadn’t planned on but now a logical plan since Sunday’s win earned free entry in the Breeders’ Cup race.
“The Sprint is sometimes won off the pace,” Baffert said. “Right now, the (Breeders’ Cup) Dirt Mile is really contentious. We’ve got a free berth in the Sprint, why not take it?”
It was another good weekend for the 72-year-old Baffert, if an unusual one.
“That’s horse racing,” he said. “We work hard. We want to play at this level, and have the clients to play at this level. It makes it fun when you do win these races.”
His fun could continue next weekend, when Santa Anita’s fall season continues with preps for the Breeders’ Cup’s major 2-year-old races.
