HOT SPRING, Ark.—Bob Baffert will have a horse running Saturday at Oaklawn. But it won’t be in the Arkansas Derby, a race the Hall of Fame trainer has won four times.
Baffert is scheduled to send out 5-2 program favorite Cezanne in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) for older horses. A 5-year-old son of Curlin, Cezanne exits a 2 ½-length victory in the $200,000 San Carlos Stakes (G2) for older horses at 7 furlongs March 5 at Santa Anita. Cezanne didn’t debut until June of his 3-year-old year and the San Carlos marked only his second start since last April.
“Just minor issues,” Baffert said Tuesday afternoon. “He just needed time. He was a big, heavy horse.”
Purchased as a 2-year-old for $3.65 million, Cezanne has won 4 of 6 starts overall. His abbreviated 4-year-old campaign – one race – resulted in a 9 ¾-length victory in the $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes (G3) at 6 ½ furlongs last April at Santa Anita. Cezanne finished third, beaten three lengths, in the $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (G3) for older horses Jan. 29 at Santa Anita. The 6-furlong race was his 2022 debut.
Baffert finished second in the 2020 Oaklawn Mile with Improbable, who was beaten three-quarters of a length by Tom’s d’Etat in his 4-year-old debut. Improbable then reeled off three consecutive Grade 1 victories, including the $300,000 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes at 1 ¼ miles at Santa Anita and $750,000 Whitney Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga, en route to an Eclipse Award as the country’s champion older dirt male of 2020. Baffert said he hopes Cezanne, who will be making his first start outside California in the Oaklawn Mile, can follow a similar path in 2022.
“They’ve got the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, a Grade 1,” Baffert said. “I really think the longer distance will open up bigger races. He’s the kind of horse that could run in the Whitney, something like that. It (Oaklawn Mile) is going to be a tough race, but I think it will be a good spot for him.”
Baffert also entered Eda in Saturday’s $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies, but he said the Grade 1 winner will be scratched after developing a slight fever Monday. Eda has won four consecutive starts.
“Bloodwork was OK, but you just can’t take a chance,” Baffert said. “Any time that you have a little bit of a temp, that is it.”
Baffert has won 36 of 85 career starts at Oaklawn, including 28 stakes. He has dominated Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby prep series the last decade, with 18 victories, including a record eight in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2).
Because of a two-year ban by Churchill Downs and impending 90-day suspension, sanctions stemming from the disqualification of his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (medication violation), a handful of Baffert’s 2022 Kentucky Derby prospects were recently transferred to other trainers. One of those runners, Doppelganger, is entered in the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) for trainer Tim Yakteen, a former Baffert assistant.
Among Baffert’s four Arkansas Derby victories was American Pharoah, who also swept the Triple Crown in 2015.
Oaklawn Barn Notes by Robert Yates
Photo credit: Coady Photography
