NEWS
Baffert has two chances for elusive Malibu win
Posted: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 3:31 PM
by Jeff Lowe
Closing out the year of his induction into the Racing Hall of Fame, trainer Bob Baffert will shoot for two new achievements on Saturday in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes (G1) for three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park.
Baffert has never won the Malibu, the traditional feature of Santa Anita’s opening-day card. He will take two shots this year, with graded stakes winners Misremembered and Mythical Power.
Misremembered also presents Baffert with a chance for his first Grade 1 triumph as a breeder. Baffert bred the Candy Ride (Arg) colt in Kentucky. His wife, Jill, races Misremembered in partnership with George Jacobs.
In the seven-furlong Malibu, Misremembered will cut back from 1 1/8 miles and switch to Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface after two fruitful trips out of town for races on dirt. He won the Indiana Derby (G2) by a half-length at Hoosier Park on October 3 and finished second by a neck to Blame in the Clark Handicap (G2) on November 27 at Churchill Downs.
Misremembered scored three wins on Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track surface this spring and summer, including a victory in the Swaps Stakes (G2) on July 18.
Mythical Power has been on the sidelines since his 7 1/2-length romp in the Lone Star Derby (G3) on May 9. He also finished second to Kelly Leak in the Sunland Derby on March 29, ahead of eventual Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Mine That Bird and Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) winner Advice.
A Congaree colt for John Fort’s Peachtree Stables, Mythical Power won a one-mile maiden special weight race at Santa Anita on March 6 in his third career start.
Also entered for the Malibu was Papa Clem, who is pursuing his first win since the Arkansas Derby (G2) on April 11 at Oaklawn Park. The runner-up to Pioneerof the Nile in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) on February 7 at Santa Anita, Papa Clem most recently finished seventh in the Del Mar Derby (G2) on the turf on September 6.
Square Eddie is the only horse in the field of 13 with a previous Grade 1 win. The Smart Strike colt scored in the 2008 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland Race Course. Since then, he has dropped six in a row, most recently a fifth-place finish in the Native Diver Handicap (G3) on December 12 at Hollywood.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
