Speed Boat Beach workout. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Speed Boat Beach Speeds into Breeders’ Cup Sprint
Breeders Cup Notes
Bob Baffert is no stranger at major Thoroughbred horse sales, having been instrumental in picking and approving the acquisitions of a large number of high-priced, royally bred prospects. While that wasn’t always the case, his first acquisition may have been a harbinger of the success that followed.
Thirty Slews was the first thoroughbred horse Baffert purchased at auction. He was just making the transition from training Quarter Horses to training Thoroughbreds and he had been sent to Kentucky with a $20,000 budget for one of his new clients. Baffert eyed a roan son of Slewpy, whose sire was the Triple Crown-winning Seattle Slew, on the third day of the sale, and entered the bidding to acquire the colt. But as the bidding heated up, it surpassed the established budget.
Baffert was determined to secure the horse even when the price reached $30,000. When the owner demurred on the elevated auction price, Baffert signed the tab and bought the horse himself.
“I was really nervous signing for the horse, because I wasn’t even sure if I had the money in my bank account,” Baffert recalled. “When the owner wouldn’t budge on the sale price, I ended up dividing up the ownership among some of my other clients. I kept a portion, though.”
The horse got his name from a conversation he had with a fellow race tracker who inquired about how much Baffert spent on the horse. Humorously, Baffert replied, “Thirty Slews,” referring to the price paid and the horse’s famous lineage.
Fast forward to the 1992 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Gulfstream Park, where Baffert had entered the horse. He was bullish about his chances despite the 19-1 odds, and his confidence was rewarded when the late-running roan was up in time to capture the race in a photo finish. Even in the afterglow of success, Baffert, who had been training Thoroughbreds for such a short time and now emerged triumphant in one of the year’s biggest races, thought to himself, “I might have peaked too soon!”
Of course, that assessment quickly was disproven by Baffert, whose exploits have delivered a record five winners in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, more than double his next closest rival trainer. Included among those winners was the race’s first repeat winner Midnight Lute (2007-2008), who Baffert refers to as one of the top five horses he has trained; 2013 winner Secret Circle and 2016 Eclipse Award-winning champion Defrong.
This year, Baffert will send out Speed Boat Beach, a lightly raced son of Bayern—Baffert’s first Breeders’ Cup Classic winner—in the 6-furlong dash. Last fall, the colt was entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) but had a difficult trip before finishing a disappointing ninth. Although the horse returned to the races a month later to capture a grass stakes at Del Mar, Baffert was determined he was better on dirt and he would never run on the grass again.
Speed Boat Beach was given a long freshening, returning for his 3-year-old campaign in September, facing older horses for the first time in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2). He battled for the lead throughout the six-furlong event, just failing to catch the winner by a head at the wire. It was a valiant effort for his return to competition and encouraged Baffert to enter him in the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“I really liked his comeback race,” Baffert said. “Since that effort, he’s trained really well (including a 4f final prep in :47 4/5 this morning). I’ve got the screws tightened on him now.”
