Bob Baffert horses dominate on opening day at

Opening day at Santa Anita may need been delayed by two days because of heavy rain, but it was well worth the wait for no other cause than to watch the stretch run of the $200,000 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes.

And for coach Bob Baffert, it was even better than that. Not only did Nysos and Nevada Beach run 1-2 for him Sunday in the thrilling Grade 2 Pincay, but he also captured the 2 Grade 1 races he entered, the La Brea with Usha and the Malibu with Goal Oriented.

It was the fourth time Baffert gained three stakes on the same day at Santa Anita, including the same trio of races on opening day in 2022.

He was particularly excited after the Pincay, and not just by what he noticed on the monitor.

“You know what’s great?” Baffert said as he stood in the winner’s circle and motioned to the grandstand, which was crowded with an announced 41,962 followers, the biggest opening day viewers since 2016. “It’s great to see this place packed. Look, everybody came out. They’ll come out to see a good horse and everybody was on the apron for this one. And they saw a great horse race.

“It was actually fun watching.”

Particularly for Baffert, who knew as the sphere turned into the stretch he couldn’t lose. Nysos, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile champion ridden by Flavien Prat, was on the inside of Nevada Beach, the Goodwood Stakes winner ridden by Juan Hernandez.

Nysos was the heavy 1-5 favourite, having misplaced only one of his seven lifetime races, but for at least a second it regarded as if he won’t get past Nevada Beach, at 3 a yr youthful than his stablemate.

But, in a digital rerun of the Dirt Mile, when Prat and Nysos edged past Hernandez and another Baffert 3-year-old, Citizen Bull, the older horse once again prevailed, again by a head.

“I was close,” Hernandez said. “My horse ran really good. I was in front on the stretch for a couple of jumps and then it was just back and forth between Nysos and my horse. … He was giving me everything he had.”

The Grade 2 Pincay (previously the San Antonio) was one of six stakes races on opening day, which is historically held the day after Christmas. It wasn’t one of the three Grade 1 races, but the presence of Nysos made it really feel just like the day’s main event.

Nysos returned $2.40 after operating 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.36, the quickest since the Pincay was moved to that distance in 2017.

Baffert said in the leadup to the race that Nysos probably would start next in the $20-million Saudi Cup on Feb. 14 in Riyadh, while Nevada Beach was more apt to go to the $3-million Pegasus World Cup next month at Gulfstream Park. After the Pincay, he didn’t rule out sending both to Saudi Arabia.

The only draw back to Baffert’s stakes day was having to scratch Barnes and Cornucopian, the 2 morning-line favorites, from the Malibu. Barnes suffered a “minor setback” Saturday while Cornucopian had an incident in the paddock minutes before the race, which compelled his withdrawal (he was unhurt).

No matter, though; Goal Oriented ($4.20) took over favoritism and earned his first stakes win, defeating stablemate Midland Money by a size in 1:20.97, the quickest Malibu since 2016.

“I’m just happy it turned out that we won it because it was so upsetting for a little bit,” Baffert said.

Usha ($13.20) was beginning in a Grade 1 race for the first time, but she gained the La Brea like a filly who has more victories in her future. She completed seven furlongs in a fast 1:21.68 to beat 2-1 favourite Formula Rossa by 5¼ lengths.

The first of the six stakes races was the $200,000 Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds on the turf. Tempus Volat, skilled by Leonard Powell, led the race but was handed in the ultimate yard by Hiding in Honduras ($21.40), a 9-1 long shot ridden by Antonio Fresu for Jonathan Thomas. Namaron, the 1-2 favourite ridden by Prat, completed third.

There was no such drama in the second turf stakes, the $100,000 San Gabriel, in which Cabo Spirit ($14.80), skilled by George Papaprodromou, took the lead shortly after the start under Mike Smith and rolled to a 1¼-length victory over Astronomer. Stay Hot, the 2-1 favourite, misplaced a picture for third to Mondego.

The remaining race of the day was the other Grade 1 event, the $300,000 American Oaks, gained by another Thomas trainee, Ambaya, a 12-1 long shot. The daughter of Ghostzapper was ridden by Kazushi Kimura, who picked up the mount when Fresu injured his ankle earlier in the day.

Etc.

The two playing cards that have been rained out over the weekend can be made up Monday and Wednesday, with free parking and admission. Both days will offer two stakes races; Monday’s spotlight is the $200,000 Joe Hernandez, which incorporates Motorious and Sumter, who have been 1-2 in the race last yr, and Imagination, last month’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up who can be racing on turf for the first time.

Rain is forecast starting Wednesday, with monitor officers saying they’ll monitor the state of affairs before deciding on how it would have an effect on the racing, if at all. The schedule calls for racing Thursday through Sunday before Santa Anita begins its regular schedule of Fridays through Sundays on Jan. 9.