Citizen Bull. Benoit Photo.
Two-year-old champion Citizen Bull favored in three-year-old debut
Such is the case with Bob Baffert. On Saturday, the Hall of Fame trainer seeks his seventh straight victory and 13th overall in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita.
Is betting against him in this 1-mile Kentucky Derby (G1) prep worth it? From this viewpoint, no, no, and no again.
Here’s why: He’ll send out Citizen Bull, the 2-year-old champion making his 3-year-old debut, as the 6-5 favorite, and potential stars Rodriguez (7-5) and Madaket Road (5-2) in a field of five.
Citizen Bull is No. 2 in the usracing.com Derby Top 10 this week, with stablemate Barnes at No. 1.
Also entered are 10-1 Clock Tower and 30-1 Valentines Candy.
Baffert 3-year-olds in the Lewis fetched a combined $1.84 million. By contrast, Clock Tower, a gelding who won the Cecil B. DeMille (G3) on turf, was a $100,000 purchase; Valentines Candy, also a gelding, was purchased for $10,000 and owns a maiden win (in his eighth attempt) in nine 2-year-old starts.
Citizen Bull, who is atop the Derby leaderboard with 40 points, won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) by 1 ½ lengths over stablemate Gaming going gate-to-wire.
Anything close to that effort under regular rider Martin Garcia spells doom for the rest of the field.
Rodriguez, a seven-length winner in his maiden win, also races out front, while Madaket Road, also a maiden winner in his second start, looks to be a stalker.
The Lewis is a Derby points qualifier offering 20-10-6-4-2 points to the first five finishers, but a new rule states that if there is a field of five only 75% of the points will be proportionately awarded.
We’re going with a chalk sweep.
Post time for the Lewis is 4:30 p.m. ET.
The field for the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Madaket Road (Frankie Dettori, Bob Baffert), 5-2
2 Citizen Bull (Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert), 6-5
3 Rodriguez (Juan Hernandez, Bob Baffert), 7-5
4 Clock Tower (Gerardo Corrales, Wesley Ward), 10-1
5 Valentines Candy (Welfin Orantes, Jesus Mendoza), 30-1