Nevada Beach

Less than two weeks before the Breeders' Cup, a quartet of hopefuls--highlighted by GISW Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca)--turned in six-furlongs works Sunday at Santa Anita. With jockey Juan Hernandez aboard, Sweet Azteca was clocked officially in a swift 1:10.80. Trainer Richard Baltas timed the drill in 1:11.20. Also working six furlongs on the main track Sunday, all for trainer Bob Baffert, wereTDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) (1:11.60), Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach) (1:11.80) and last year's juvenile champion Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) (1:12.60). Nysos and Citizen Bull are...

Morgane Kervarrec knows she's not exactly known for being the most outgoing person on the backside. But for her, the job has never been about small talk or making appearances. It's about the work, the horses, and the quiet rhythm of morning training at Santa Anita. "People will say sometimes that maybe I'm not really social," Kervarrec admitted. "It's not that I'm tired of being social. I'm just tired of fake connections with people that you don't get with animals. That's why I picked this job. You deal less with...

The connections of Johannes (Nyquist), Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach), and GI Goodwood Stakes runner-up Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast) have confirmed their charges as Breeders' Cup bound in November after their stellar performances Saturday. One-two finishers Nevada Beach and Full Serrano were both doing well Sunday morning after the Goodwood, and barring any hiccups between now and the Breeders' Cup, will both be targeting respective Breeders' Cup races--the former having earned an automatic berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with his victory. A 3-year-old making just his fourth start,...

Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's lightly raced 3-year-old Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach), last seen capturing the Los Alamitos Derby June 28, fired fresh off the bench to punch his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with an 8-1 upset victory for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert against older horses in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Goodwood S. at Santa Anita. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile upsetter Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast) was second as the 1-2 favorite. Privman (Justify) was third. Fourth beneath Mike...

Trainer Bob Baffert earned his ninth consecutive Los Alamitos Derby Saturday when favored Nevada Beach led in stablemate Varney to top an exacta for the Hall of Famer. In a field scratched down to just four (Baffert had a third entrant in Tiz Secure {Maximum Security}), it was clear the money was on the less experienced of the stablemates with Nevada Beach having broken his maiden Apr. 19 before running second to Gaming (Game Winner) in the Affirmed Stakes June 8. Drawn just to inside, Varney was making start five,...

Who were the five fastest maidens based on the Beyer Speed figures this week? We count them down. 5. SWEET SCORECARD, IND 4/16 - 5 1/2 furlongs Beyer Speed Figure: 84 (No Video Replay Available) (f, 3, Vekoma--Sweet Halory, by Hold Me Back) O-514 Racing LLC, B-Glenn Sorgenstein WC Racing Inc; T-Tim Eggleston, J-J. D. Ramos Not sure what's the most interesting aspect: that she was 8/1 in the program but hammered down to 1/2 favoritism, that she had been outrun by an average of 12 1/4 lengths in three...