NEWS
Road to the Triple Crown:
Baffert tries something new
Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 4:37 PM
LOOKIN AT LUCKY
Benoit & Associates photo
by Jeff Lowe
Bob Baffert has trained a trio of champion two-year-old males, but he never had the chance to race the first two as three-year-olds. He chose a challenge for the launch of champion Lookin At Lucky’s march to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).
Baffert decided to go straight to a tough test in the Rebel Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, presenting Lookin At Lucky with a stiff mix of competition and changes.
The Smart Strike colt raced exclusively on synthetic surfaces in Southern California last year when he won the Del Mar Futurity (G1), Norfolk Stakes (G1), and CashCall Futurity (G1) and finished second in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). He also will race with blinkers for the first time.
“We’re going to find out a lot about him,” Baffert said on Tuesday. “He’s never shipped before, we’re running on dirt, and [adding] blinkers. If you’re going to do an experiment, it’s got to be done in this race not the next race. The final prep has got to be positive.”
Lookin At Lucky has been off for 84 days since his title-clinching victory in the CashCall Futurity on December 19 at Hollywood Park. The break was intentional—Baffert immediately picked out March 13 for a return date. He said drainage issues with the main track at Santa Anita Park this winter had no serious effect on the colt’s preparations.
“There wasn’t any urgency to get him ready,” Baffert said. “So when it rained, I didn’t train him when the track got mushy. He’s been right on schedule for the last 30 days or so. He’s a franchise horse and I’ve got to make sure he’s ready. I don’t have him ready to win the Kentucky Derby or something, but he’s ready enough to run well. I want to get a nice, tough race out of him, and we want to win.”
Baffert’s previous champion two-year-old males did not race for him at three. Vindication, the undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner in 2002, suffered a career-ending injury. Midshipman moved to the Godolphin Racing roster in Dubai following his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory in 2008.
Baffert said jockey Martin Garcia noticed physical maturity in Lookin At Lucky when he breezed him recently.
“Martin hadn’t worked him since before the CashCall Futurity and he said he could feel a difference where he had gotten bigger and stronger,” Baffert said. “He was never out of training. There’s not an ounce of fat on him. He’s not a big, heavy horse, where I have to do a lot with him.
“He’s got a ways to go. He’s just starting to change right now. He’s usually a little bit quieter, but he’s on his toes right now. He’ll be a little bit fresh. I don’t think he’ll be too far off the pace.”
Garrett Gomez, the jockey in each of Lookin At Lucky’s six starts, recommended the switch to blinkers after the CashCall Futurity.
“Garrett thought he would be a little more focused,” Baffert said. “When he makes the lead, he sort of shuts down and he doesn’t respond from the whip at all; he just keeps on the same movement. He thought maybe with the blinkers he would be a little more focused and wouldn’t pull up. So far, he’s been working very well with it. He seems to go on.”
CashCall Futurity runner-up Noble’s Promise also is shipping in for the Rebel, and Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes (G1) winner Dublin will be there to greet them for Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
Dublin finished a fast-closing second in the Southwest Stakes (G3) on February 20 behind Lookin At Lucky’s stablemate, Conveyance.
The performance was a promising sign after Dublin finished fifth in the Champagne Stakes (G1) in October and seventh in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) in November--his final two starts as a two-year-old. He underwent surgery to correct an entrapped epiglottis after the Iroquois.
“He’s moved forward and had a very good three weeks since the Southwest,” Lukas said. “He’s a lot more seasoned since the Hopeful and maturity has really helped him. I think he’ll run a much-improved race over even the Southwest.”
Corey Nakatani, who has rejuvenated his career as the leading jockey at Oaklawn this meet, will replace Terry Thompson aboard the Afleet Alex colt.
Lukas said owners Robert Baker and William Mack encouraged him to make the switch.
“They’re very knowledgeable—they’ve been around with Grand Slam and Scorpion and Proud Citizen—and they have a pretty good feel for the game,” Lukas said. “They just felt we should probably go with someone who had more experience in those classic-type races.
“Terry Thompson did a nice job with this horse. He’s been working with him all meet. They just felt we should go in that direction, and it’s a logical choice. Corey’s here, he’s riding well, and he wanted to ride the horse.”
Unbeaten Caracortado and jockey Paul Atkinson will take another step together on the Triple Crown trail in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Atkinson, 40, landed on Caracortado in morning workout at Del Mar last summer as he recovered from an injury and the California-bred gelding prepared for his debut. Their ascent began in a $40,000 maiden claiming race at Fairplex Park on September 24.
In the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) on February 13, Caracortado scored his fifth straight victory and provided Atkinson with his first graded stakes triumph since 1994.
“When I started breezing a bunch of horses at Del Mar, Paul was coming off an injury and he needed to get fit. So he was helping me out in the morning, working on some horses,” trainer Mike Machowsky said. “His thought when he got ready to ride again was that I would repay him by putting him on a horse I thought would be live. It just kind of worked out that way. He was lucky enough that it was Caracortado. I’m a firm believer that loyalty means something. Paul has ridden him flawlessly each time.”
Interactif, a multiple graded stakes winner on turf, will switch to a synthetic surface for the first time in the San Felipe.
The Broken Vow colt finished second by a nose to Bim Bam in the Hallandale Beach Stakes on the grass at Gulfstream Park on February 7 in his first start this year.
Paddy O’Prado is in line for a similar transition following his first career victory on March 6 in the Palm Beach Stakes (G3) on the turf at Gulfstream. Trainer Dale Romans said the El Prado (Ire) colt is a candidate for the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 10 on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland Race Course.
Paddy O’Prado finished third to Interactif in the With Anticipation Stakes (G3) on September 4 at Saratoga Race Course.
Baffert said he will move The Program off of synthetics after his third-place finish in the Sham Stakes (G3) on March 6 at Santa Anita. The Harlan’s Holiday colt will start next in the Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 27 at Fair Grounds.
The next day, unbeaten Conveyance will stretch out past one mile for the first time in the 1 1/8-mile WinStar Sunland Derby (G3).
“I wanted to keep him on dirt, it’s an $800,000 race, and as I recall, last year’s Derby winner came out of there, so it’s a good prep,” Baffert said in a reference to Mine That Bird, who finished fourth in the Sunland Derby last year before his 50.60-to-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
