Bob Baffert

Who says it never rains in Southern California? Well, for any music trivia buffs in the audience, it was the little-known Albert Hammond who sang those lyrics, but those living in and around metropolitan Los Angeles will confirm that the precipitation came with a vengeance this Christmas week, flooding parts of Interstate 5 and causing power outages and even the (very) odd threat of tornadoes. Nearly two inches of rainfall was recorded at Los Angeles International Airport, breaking a 54-year-old mark, while nearly four inches fell upon Woodland Hills and...

For the sixth time since December Thoroughbred racing on the Southern California circuit has been staged at Los Alamitos Race Course in Orange County, juveniles trained by Bob Baffert swept the winter meet's featured events--the GII Starlet Stakes and GII Los Alamitos Futurity Stakes. One week after Juddmonte homebred Consequent (Into Mischief) took out the fillies' event, earning 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, favored Litmus Test (Nyquist) followed suit in the Dec. 14 Futurity and picked up 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby....

When the GII Los Alamitos Futurity--formerly the Hollywood Futurity, which was also known for a time as the CashCall Futurity--was renamed in 2014, perhaps it should have been labeled as the Bob Baffert Futurity, as the Hall of Famer has now won the race a record 15 times since 1997, including seven straight from 2014 to 2020. To put an exclamation point on his domination in the race, the silver-haired trainer finished one-two-three Saturday, with 3-5 choice Litmus Test (c, 2, Nyquist--Study Hard, by Malibu Moon) bringing home a Baffert...

Toaster (McKinzie) firmed into even-money favoritism at the off, took command of what appeared to be a wide-open race in upper stretch and kept on nicely to graduate at first asking Friday at Los Alamitos. Drawn one from the outside, the $247,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling turned $525,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer showed enough early toe to track the pace from well off the inside beneath Juan Hernandez. Allowed to stride into the lead approaching the long straight, Toaster was asked for her best five away from the fence leaving the quarter...

In recent years, trainer Bob Baffert has shown an affinity for the GII Los Alamitos Futurity, winning five of 11 editions since the race was moved to Los Alamitos. On Saturday, the Hall of Fame trainer will attempt to add another notch to his belt with a trio of entrants--Litmus Test (Nyquist), Provenance (Into Mischief) and Blacksmith (Liam's Map). Owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Diane Bashor, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan, Litmus Test will be making his first...

7th-OP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 4:22 p.m. ET. Set for her unveiling is SANGARETTE (Charlatan), a 2-year-old who was purchased for $500,000 by Tom Durant during the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale last year and sent to trainer Ray Ashford. The filly's dam, GISP Sweet Shirley Mae (Broken Vow), produced SW Mae Never No (Ire) (No Nay Never). Sangarette's extended female family includes GSW Chaos Theory (Curlin). Also making the starting gate on opening day of the Oaklawn meet is Don Alberto homebred Eagle Dance (Audible). Trained by Brad Cox,...

The 2025 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale set a new high-water mark for gross, closing Wednesday evening with sales of $10,607,900 for 421 horses sold including the sales topper Treadstone (hip 34) (Tapit) who brought $470,000. The sale, which opened Thursday, December 4, and closed over two sessions on December 9 and 10, is believed to have established a new top gross for an online thoroughbred auction held worldwide, exceeding last year's Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale's gross of $10,258,700. Offerings during this sale included horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, racing/stallion...

She needed a second wind to get there, but find it she did. Consequent (Into Mischief--Cognitive, by Uncle Mo) steadily closed the gap to overhaul the top pair late in the lane to win the GII Starlet Stakes. She entered this race with only one prior start to her name and it was a half-length victory at first-asking Nov. 14 at this venue. The Juddmonte-homebred put in a couple of strong works under her belt since that graduation, and the betting public liked her to the tune of 5-2 odds...

It was round two of their first match-up, and this time Paladin (Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) came home best over Renegade (Into Mischief) to score not just his first black-type, but also secure 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the 112th running of the GII Remsen Stakes. The pair was last seen Oct. 17 at this venue when they brought their battle down to the wire in a maiden special weight contest, and Renegade officially crossed the line first by a head. He was later...

Sunday's closing day card at Del Mar was punctuated by a trio of impressive graded stakes performances, however, none more so than the final graded race of the seaside oval's season, the GIII Bayakoa Stakes. Attempting to defend her title in the one-mile race after a narrow score in 2024, Hope Road (Quality Road) rebounded off a modest third-place effort as the even-money choice in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint to take Sunday's Bayakoa, winning by an emphatic 6 1/2-length margin. Hustled out of the gate by...

Purchased for $50,000 over a cool million by Zedan Racing at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale and named for that auction house's chief cook and bottlewasher Boyd Browning, Boyd (Violence) was sent to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The juvenile debuted a winner at the seaside oval by a margin of 5 3/4 lengths, which earned him a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', for his effort. Shipped to Louisville for the Ed Brown Stakes, Boyd was bet down to 3-5 here. The Zedan color bearer bobbled a...

Spendthrift Farms' Further Ado (Gun Runner), who will make his next start in Saturday's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs, ran sensationally in his last start, winning a Keeneland maiden by 20 lengths, earning a 98 Beyer figure. The Beyer number is tied for the second fastest race by a 2-year-old in 2025 and earned the colt 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' status. But he's also somewhat of a mystery. Why did he run so poorly in his first two races and can he once again turn...