DEL MAR — If racehorse trainers printed up resumes, the first line of Bob Baffert’s would read: Six-time Kentucky Derby winner. But not far below that would be: 20-time Del Mar Futurity winner.
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Baffert achieved the latter, amazing milestone on a muggy, windy Sunday afternoon when the colt named Hughes and jockey Juan Hernandez made fast work of a small field in the Del Mar Futurity, the Grade I race that annually anoints California’s first star of the season among 2-year-olds.
While his six Derby champions between 1997 and 2020 share a record with Ben Jones, Baffert’s 20 Del Mar Futurity champions since 1996 are the standard for victories by one trainer in a single stakes race in North America. All of those speedsters could run together in the memory at this point, but the Hall of Famer talks about certain ones like Silver Charm, who went on to win the 1997 Derby, and American Pharoah, who became the 2015 Triple Crown winner. And he can’t forget the ones that got away, such as Roman Ruler, second (to Declan’s Moon) at 1-10 odds in 2004 – “that one stings,” he still says.
If winning a stakes two-thirds of the time over this long a stretch has an explanation, it’s that the Futurity plays to Baffert’s strength.
“My barn is top-heavy with 2-year-olds,” said Baffert, 73, adding, “I love Del Mar. (California is) the best place to get horses ready.”
Hughes, a son of leading U.S. sire Into Mischief and the mare KP Dreamin, came into the 7-furlong race more than ready after winning his 5-furlong debut at Los Alamitos in June and the 6-furlong Grade III Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar in August by a combined 13-3/4 lengths.
Fans bet Hughes down to 1-5 odds in the field of five, and show bettors loaded up especially heavily with about $131,377 of the $155,692 show pool. Hughes paid $2.40 to win and $2.10 to place and show.
Hughes’ owners, a large partnership led by Front Row Club, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, collected $180,000 of the $300,000 purse.
The winning margin was 4-3/4 lengths, but the colt did have to work for it. Facing a headwind off the Pacific Ocean, Hughes and Hernandez dueled between his Baffert stablemate Domus, with Antonio Fresu riding, and 25-1 long shot High Pronto, under Kazushi Kimura. As Hughes asserted control, Phone Booth and Umberto Rispoli surged up the rail to make it a two-horse race – briefly.
“I had that horse (High Pronto) inside me, but I didn’t want to push on my horse too early,” said Hernandez, who rode his second Del Mar Futurity winner. “When we straightened out, he was lugging in just a bit, so I tapped him on the left side and we were fine. He did his job today.”
The time, 1:22.57, was the third fastest among the past 10 Del Mar Futurities.
Doug O’Neill-trained Phone Booth, Dang Son and High Pronto finished second, third and fifth. Baffert was surprised Domus didn’t fire.
“We’re still learning with these (young) horses,” Baffert said, who also won his13th Grade I Del Mar Debutante with Miss Monica on Saturday, making this the ninth time he has won both the San Diego County track’s big 2-year-old races in the same season. “(Hughes) is the kind of horse who does most of his running at the end, which is what you like to see, and he was taking off at the end.”
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Hughes was one of two stakes winners for Baffert and Hernandez on Sunday.
Desert Gate ($3.60), the 2025 Del Mar Futurity runnerup (to Baffert’s Brant), ended a two-race losing streak with a ground-saving trip around the 1-mile oval in the Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds.
The day’s third stakes, the Grade III Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, saw Vanta ($4) and Rispoli go from next-to-last in a field of nine to win for trainer Jeff Mullins and San Diego owners Michele Arthur and Ruben Islas. Mullins, Arthur and Islas won the Oceanside Stakes and Del Mar Derby with Proletariat earlier in the meet, and Mullins won the Osunitas with Baltic Fire.
Riding to the wire
Hernandez’s double Sunday maintained his mathematical chance of catching leading jockey Joel Rosario and winning the Del Mar summer riding title for the fifth year in a row.
Rosario, who also won twice with Pioneer Prince ($4.60) and Study Session ($28.40), leads Hernandez 42-35 going into Monday’s 32nd and last card of the meet. Hernandez has mounts in nine races on Monday, while Rosario won’t ride at Del Mar on Monday. Rosario is booked on five horses at Kentucky Downs, including California-based stakes runners Hey Nay Nay and Namaron for trainer John Sadler and Mr. A.P. for Vladimir Cerin.
O’Neill clinched the training title Saturday. Top three O’Neill (27 wins), Phil D’Amato (16) and Peter Miller (15) each won one race Sunday.
A final ‘Thought’
The meet finale features 4-year-old Thought Process trying to tighten her hold on the California fillies-and-mares turf division by winning the Grade II John C. Mabee Stakes.
Ridden by Hector Berrios for trainer Phil D’Amato, Thought Process comes in with Grade II and Grade I victories at Santa Anita and is a solid 8-5 favorite in a field of 10 on the morning line for the 1-1/8-mile Mabee. Five-year-old Medoro is next on the morning line at 7-2 after finishing second to Gimme a Nother in this race a year ago.
First post is 1:30 p.m. for the 11 races.
Notable
• Light rain Sunday morning didn’t keep the main track from being listed as “fast” and the turf course “firm.” Del Mar is going to complete its third consecutive summer meet without rain affecting races. In August 2023, a storm prompted the cancelation of an entire card. Before that, a pair of cards in July 2015 included races run on a “sloppy” main track and “yielding” grass.
• Tote-board favorites won eight of the 11 races Sunday, lifting public choices’ success rate to a very normal 34% at the meet that was unusually upset-prone early on.
• Miss Monica received a Beyer speed figure of 87 for running 7 furlongs in 1:23.54 in winning the Del Mar Debutante by 6-1/4 lengths Saturday, according to the Daily Racing Form. That’s one of the highest figures for the Debutante in recent years, but below the 97 earned by Summer Starlet for going 7 furlongs in 1:22.72 in a 4-3/4-length win in the Spinaway Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Saratoga on Saturday.
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