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Baffert takes early lead on Road to Kentucky Derby with 1-2 finish in Breeders' Cup Juvenile

By Robert Kieckhefer, UPI Racing Writer
Magnum Force (L), ridden by Colin Keane, beats Arizona Blaze, with Umberto Risoli up, to win the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at the Breeders' Cup Championships at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., on Friday. Photo by Mark Abraham/UPI
1 of 3 | Magnum Force (L), ridden by Colin Keane, beats Arizona Blaze, with Umberto Risoli up, to win the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at the Breeders' Cup Championships at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., on Friday. Photo by Mark Abraham/UPI | License Photo

DEL MAR, Calif., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- After three years of banishment from Churchill Downs, trainer Bob Baffert now holds the aces in the early maneuvering for a return to Louisville and an assault on the 2025 renewal of the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert-trained Citizen Bull and Gaming finished 1-2 in Friday's $2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar, the race that annually crowns the very early favorite for the following year's Derby.

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He just missed sweeping the first three placings as his third entry, Getaway Car, finished fourth behind European entry Hill Road.

The Juvenile was the set piece in five Breeders' Cup Championship races on the Friday program. Along the way, Immersive was an easy winner in the Juvenile Fillies, making her the early favorite for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks.

Baffert had been banned from Churchill Downs after a series of infractions, culminating in Medina Spirit's disqualification from victory in 2021. His reinstatement was announced earlier this year, in time for his horses to earn qualifying points in the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" series.

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Baffert said reinstatement "means we don't have to discuss that situation. That's what it means."

Citizen Bull, winner of the Grade I American Pharoah in his previous start, had things all his own way in the Juvenile and won by 1 1/2 lengths over his stablemate. The effort was aided when the race favorite, East Avenue, stumbled badly out of the gate and never got back into contention. East Avenue had been expected to contest the lead.

Baffert said that while all his 2-year-olds are improving and "it's good to be in the conversation ... you don't know if you have a Derby horse until about February."

Citizen Bull is an Into Mischief colt racing for a large partnership. He had won two of his first three races and was third in the Grade I Del Mar Futurity.

Immersive locked up the 2-year-old filly championship and became the de facto early favorite for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks with a comprehensive thrashing of an impressive international field in the $2 million NetJets Juvenile Fillies.

The Nyquist filly, trained by Brad Cox for Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Godolphin, entered the race undefeated and largely untested after her first three starts.

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She finished the same way, rallying outside rivals on the stretch turn and drawing off to score by 4 1/2 lengths. She now has three straight Grade I wins following the Spinaway at Saratoga and the Alcibiades at Keeneland.

Vodka With a Twist was a long-shot second and Quickkick showed some late kick to beat Scottish Lassie for third. Neither of the Japanese fillies -- American Bikini and Otomena Shacho -- was seriously involved in the running.

Godolphin's bloodstock director, Michael Banahan said, "We have a lot to look forward to," adding about the Kentucky Oaks, "We would love to think that's a possibility. Stamina will be our forte."

The first of the five championship races produced the day's first upset as Magnum Force blitzed up the rail and outfinished fellow long shot Arizona Blaze by 1/2 length in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

The heavily favored Ecoro Sieg from Japan and Whistlejacket from Ireland were never in the mix, with Whistlejacket fifth and Ecoro Sieg eighth, neither with an any apparent excuse. Governor Sam, trained in New York by George Weaver, led most of the way and finished third.

The result let some air out of the Japanese balloon as Ecoro Sieg was among the best-fancied of a 19-horse squad entered over the two days by various Japanese connections.

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Magnum Force, a Mehmas colt trained by Ger Lyon, races for Sheik Abdulla Al Khalifa. He came to Del Mar on the back of a second-place finish in the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster in England.

Lake Victoria salvaged some honor for foreign-trained favorites as the Frankel filly, under a confident ride by Ryan Moore, emerged from the pack at the top of the stretch and rolled home to a clear, 1 1/2-length victory in the $1 million John Deere Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The victory was not without drama as Lake Victoria was bumped into the fence in a scrum around the first turn, a mishap Moore said was "serious interference." After that, he said, "it was just a matter of getting a clear run. She was just too good for them."

Trainer Aidan O'Brien and Michael Tabor, one of the Coolmore "lads" owners, agreed the 2025 goal for Lake Victoria now is the 1,000 Guineas although O'Brien said she might be able to add another few furlongs beyond that 1 mile if asked later in the season.

The Coolmore homebred remains undefeated after five starts, the last three of them at the top level. She won her career debut in June by a head, and since has not had a winning margin of less than 1 1/2 lengths. She won the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket by 3 lengths in her previous start.

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Coolmore, O'Brien and Moore capped the day with a victory in the $1 million Juvenile Turf with Henri Matisse. The Wootton Bassett colt came from well off the pace, well out in the middle of the course to secure the win over long-shot local runner Iron Man Cal.

Henri Matisse rebounded from a fifth-place finish in the Group 1 Prix Jean Luc Lagardare on Oct. 6 in Paris, where he encountered soft turf.

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