GIII Robert B. Lewis

The first Saturdays in February, March and April are stacked with points-awarding prep races for the GI Kentucky Derby. It's unusual, though, for all of the coast-to-coast stakes on any one of those weekends to yield three emphatic or impactful performances. But the trio of preps on Feb. 1 produced three intriguing winners who all figure to be "horses of interest" moving forward. The victories Saturday by Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, 'TDN Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke) in the...

Messier gave trainer Bob Baffert and jockey John Velazquez their second dominant graded winner of the afternoon when he flew home an unchallenged victor of the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita Sunday. Shedding the blinkers after getting outkicked in the Dec. 11 GII Los Alamitos Futurity last time out, the 3-5 favorite tugged his way to the fore with little encouragement from Velazquez. Second choice Sir London (Malibu Moon) chased the pace with longshot Cabo Spirit latched on the top two while racing three deep. Sir London...