{"id":10281,"date":"2026-05-28T20:02:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=10281"},"modified":"2026-05-28T20:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:02:27","slug":"horse-racing-bob-baffert-set-to-end-santa-anita-stakes-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=10281","title":{"rendered":"Horse racing: Bob Baffert set to end Santa Anita stakes drought"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bob Baffert\u2019s stable will be back in the spotlight Saturday at Santa Anita, even though the Hall of Fame trainer himself will be back east with horses racing that day at Churchill Downs and the following weekend at Saratoga.<\/p>\n

Read more Grayson Rodriguez picks up victory as Angels take second straight series<\/a><\/p>\n

Seismic Beauty, the 5-year-old mare returning from a Breeders\u2019 Cup disappointment to seek a repeat victory in the Santa Margarita Stakes, will be Baffert\u2019s first stakes starter at Santa Anita since April and would be his first winner at that level at the Arcadia track since March. That dry spell alone isn\u2019t remarkable, because Baffert\u2019s barn doesn\u2019t target the turf and California-bred races that dominate Santa Anita\u2019s late-season stakes calendar. But it comes after Baffert moved many of his best horses to Kentucky at the start of the Churchill meet.<\/p>\n

In states where purses are enhanced by casino revenue, Baffert finds higher prize money and more certainty that the races listed in track condition books will draw enough entries to actually be carded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather be in California,\u201d Baffert said Wednesday on the phone from Kentucky, \u201cbut when they\u2019re ready to run, you have to have a spot to run them in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spreading out his troops also allows Baffert to avoid running horses against each other as he has often done in California. The Baffert-trained 5-year-old mares Seismic Beauty and Splendora, who finished 1-2 in the 2025 Santa Margarita, both now are owned by Randy and Jenny Boyd of Tennessee. While Seismic Beauty stays home, Splendora is racing in Kentucky, and is a 6-5 favorite on the morning line for the Grade II, $300,000 Shawnee Stakes at Churchill on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Also at Churchill on Saturday, Baffert has 4-year-olds Cornucopian and Madaket Road in the Grade III, $275,000 Aristides Stakes. They\u2019re 5-2 and 9-2, respectively, against Bob Hess Jr.-trained Roll On Big Joe, a 9-5 favorite.<\/p>\n

Seismic Beauty (Juan Hernandez riding) is 2-5 in the Grade II, $200,000 Santa Margarita, whose field of five includes Michael McCarthy\u2019s Simply Joking (Emisael Jaramillo) and Aggie Ordonez\u2019s Om N Joy (Kent Desormeaux). Baffert said she\u2019s \u201cdoing great\u201d since returning to training after trouble at the start led to her being eased to 11th place behind winner Scylla as the favorite in the Breeders\u2019 Cup Distaff at Del Mar.<\/p>\n

Baffert has one victory and ranks 32nd in earnings among trainers at the April-to-June Santa Anita Hollywood Meet, after finishing second at the same meet a year ago. Meanwhile he has been winning stakes in Kentucky with Crude Velocity and Usha and in Texas with Desert Gate.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Baffert said he\u2019ll have more of a California presence at the Del Mar meet that opens July 17.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We\u2019ll have) mainly 2-year-olds, and we\u2019ll have our older horses. We\u2019ll have a horse for the Pacific Classic (Aug. 22),\u201d Baffert said, insisting that \u201cthe hub is still California.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more New California law aims to keep Trump from meddling in midterm elections<\/a><\/p>\n

As for racing more out of state, Baffert said: \u201cIt\u2019s tough (competition), but I just need somewhere I can run these quality horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE AT SANTA ANITA<\/h4>\n

Sunday\u2019s Grade III Triple Bend Stakes matches a familiar face, 2024 Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold, against a fresh one, Chilean Grade I winner The Goat, in a five-horse field.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Stronghold (Antonio Fresu) won for the first time since the Santa Anita Derby by dead-heating with Bendoog in an allowance-level race at Oaklawn Park in April. Five-year-old The Goat (Emisael Jaramillo), a son of Baffert\u2019s 2008 Del Mar Futurity and Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman, makes his U.S. debut for trainer John Sadler after a long layoff.<\/p>\n

BELMONT BUILDUP<\/h4>\n

The New York Racing Association lists 10 horses as \u201cprobable\u201d for the June 6 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. The lineup will be set Monday.<\/p>\n

Vitruvian Man, third behind So Happy and Potente in the Santa Anita Derby last time out, has joined the list. Antonio Rispoli will ride for trainer Doug O\u2019Neill. They\u2019ll be the only California representatives in the Belmont.<\/p>\n

The rest of the prospective field: Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, Derby runners Renegade, Ocelli, Chief Wallabee, Commandment and Emerging Market; Peter Pan Stakes winner Growth Equity, and Ottinho and Powershift. Ocelli, third in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness, would be the only Preakness participant in the Belmont, and the only horse in all three races.<\/p>\n

Baffert is skipping the Belmont with Crude Velocity, who\u2019ll run in the Grade I Woody Stephens Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga, and Potente, who\u2019ll go in the Grade III Matt Winn on June 7 at Churchill.<\/p>\n

Also expected to run for Baffert at Saratoga on Belmont weekend are the 3-year-old filly Explora in the Grade I Acorn on June 5, and Nysos and Imagination in the Grade I Met Mile (where they\u2019ll meet Journalism) on June 6.<\/p>\n

SANTA ANITA LEADERS<\/h4>\n

(Through Monday)<\/p>\n

Jockeys \/ Wins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Armando Ayuso \/ 20<\/p>\n

Antonio Fresu \/ 19<\/p>\n

Juan Hernandez \/ 17<\/p>\n

Emisael Jaramillo \/ 16<\/p>\n

Kazushi Kimura \/ 14<\/p>\n

Trainers \/ Wins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Phil D\u2019Amato \/ 13<\/p>\n

Jeff Mullins \/ 8<\/p>\n

John Sadler \/ 8<\/p>\n

Mark Glatt \/ 8<\/p>\n

Michael McCarthy \/ 8<\/p>\n

UPCOMING STAKES<\/h4>\n

SANTA ANITA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 $200,000, Grade II Santa Margarita Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1\u215b miles<\/p>\n

Read more Route 66 through San Bernardino County fuels media attention<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 $100,000, Grade III Triple Bend Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 7 furlongs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seismic Beauty returns Saturday seeking another Santa Margarita victory at a time when her trainer is also focused on Kentucky and New York races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHorse racing: Bob Baffert set to end Santa Anita stakes drought - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=10281\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Horse racing: Bob Baffert set to end Santa Anita stakes drought - 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