A pretty good day Saturday for trainer Bob Baffert turned
into a pretty good night, too, as the Hall of Fame trainer launched an
impressive bicoastal attack with important victories at Saratoga
and Del Mar.
At the Spa, Baffert sent out Thoroughbred Legends Racing
Stable’s Rapport to an authoritative 3 ½-length victory in the Grade 3,
$100,000 Victory Ride for 3-year-old fillies.
The win was the first in a stakes for the daughter of
Songandaprayer and sets Rapport up for a run in the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant
Bloom, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for fillies and mares at Belmont Park
on September 25.
“She ran like she was supposed to,” Baffert said. “Her
Calder race (a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Azalea off a blazing opening
half-mile) – she ran poorly because the gas pedal got stuck the first quarter.
Martin Garcia knows her really well. She runs like she looks.”
After the Saratoga
races, Baffert had a strong interest in the West Coast action as his Richard’s
Kid won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic and, two races later, his El Brujo took the
Grade 1 Pat O’Brien.
“I watched it in Siro’s bar,” Baffert said. “I won two
stakes races out of Siro’s bar in between bites of lobster. My three-pound
lobster.”