Barnes

The bandwagon for Barnes was already pretty crowded heading into Saturday's GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita. It now may be next to impossible to find a standing-room-only spot after the Bob Baffert-trained son of Into Mischief uncorked a crusher of a performance that left four rivals reeling in his 5 ½-length wake. I have no idea if the two sprint victories at the root of this $3.2 million FTSAUG colt's foundation will blossom into a blanket of roses on the first Saturday in May. I am pretty certain,...

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Derby is still in its earliest stages, but a couple of races over the weekend gave us some things to get excited about. It appears, in GII San Vicente Stakes winner Barnes (Into Mischief), we have an early Derby favorite that could give Bob Baffert his first official Derby win since Authentic (Into Mischief) in 2020 in what would be his return to America's most famous race after the Churchill ban. Sold for $3.2 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, this could be a special horse....

Zedan Racing Stable's Barnes (Into Mischief), a $3.2-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, made it a perfect two-for-two for Bob Baffert with a jaw-dropping performance in Saturday's GII San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita. The even-money favorite was placed in a tracking second by Juan Hernandez, gained command approaching the quarter pole and leveled off beautifully in the stretch to win with authority by 5 1/2 lengths. His Baffert-trained stablemate Romanesque (Practical Joke), a debut winner over freshly minted 'TDN Rising Star' Rodriguez (Authentic), rounded out the exacta. Narrow second-choice Bullard (Gun...

With plenty of tasty birthday cake in the offing, a cadre of newly-minted 3-year-old colts have blown out their candles and are ready for stakes action across four tracks on Saturday. Leading the charge at Santa Anita is the GII San Vicente Stakes, which is the annual renewal of the seven furlong dirt race. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won 13 prior editions, including last year with Muth (Good Magic). In customary fashion, the Hall of Famer enters a pair of runners in Barnes (Into Mischief) and Romanesque...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) worked three furlongs in :37.80 (20/25) Sunday at Santa Anita in preparation for his return to the races in the GI Malibu Stakes Thursday. Mystik Dan was backed up to the seven-eighths pole before breaking into a gallop. He sped things up near the quarter pole, where he found company from a pair of horses to his inside, then continued to accelerate through the lane. After winning the Derby, Mystik Dan was second in the GI Preakness Stakes and has been unraced since...

With the Kentucky Derby still 23 weeks away, the pari-mutuel field of "All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2022 Foal Crop" closed as the 9-5 favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager and recent debut winner Barnes (Into Mischief), from the barn of six-time Derby winner Bob Baffert, was the 13-1 second choice. Other horses who attracted interest from bettors include: GI Breeders' Futurity winner East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) (15-1); GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) (16-1); GIII Street Sense winner Sovereignty (Into...

Zedan Racing Stables' Barnes (c, 2, Into Mischief--All American Dream, by American Pharoah), a $3.2-million FTSAUG yearling, made trainer Bob Baffert's return to Churchill Downs a winning one Wednesday when just getting his head in front of Innovator (Authentic) on the line. The 1-5 favorite was hustled out of the gate, but was taken in hand and settled off the pace when Luis Saez, aboard Innovator, proved intent on gaining the early lead. Innovator was in front through the quarter in :21.90 with the heavy favorite buried in traffic along...

7th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 3:55 p.m. ET. The debuting $3.2-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate Barnes (c, 2, Into Mischief--All American Dream, by American Pharoah) is set to become the first starter at Churchill Downs for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert since the lifting of his well-documented, corporation-imposed three-year suspension. Owned by Zedan Racing Stables, Barnes worked five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 (2/8) at Baffert's Santa Anita base Nov. 20 before heading to Louisville. His third dam is MGISW Dream Supreme (Seeking the Gold), responsible for GISW Majestic Warrior (A.P....

Bob Baffert told TDN via text last week it would be "exciting" to have a horse run at Churchill Downs for the first time in more than three years. Four months ago, on July 19, the gaming corporation that owns the track rescinded a ruling-off it had imposed upon the Hall-of-Fame trainer in 2021 because of a string of drug positives in horses Baffert trained, including one in Churchill's most prominent race, that year's GI Kentucky Derby. The colt who tested positive for an overage of betamethasone was Medina Spirit,...

Barnes (Into Mischief), an unraced 2-year-old colt who sold for $3.2 million as a FTSAUG yearling in 2023, has been entered by trainer Bob Baffert and owner Zedan Racing Stables in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint at Churchill Downs next Wednesday. The start will be Baffert's first at the Louisville track since Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) on July 19, 2024, announced the lifting of a corporation-imposed three-year suspension that had kept the Hall-of-Fame trainer from racing in the GI Kentucky Derby and at any of CDI's tracks nationwide....