He has so many 2-year-olds, Bob Baffert sometimes just doesn’t know what to do. He’s hopeful, though, that the pair he sends to Saratoga will fare well at the track’s traditional closing day $300,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1).
The Hall of Fame trainer entered Muth and Mission Beach in the 7-furlong Hopeful, a race that could determine whether a 2-year-old is ready to move on to longer distances with the goal of running in the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby (G1) in eight months.
West Coast-based Baffert has started only two horses in the Hopeful – Too Much Bling and Maimonides, with each finishing third in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
While Baffert is looking for his first Hopeful win, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas has a chance to extend his record Hopeful victory total to nine with Just Steel. Fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher is in search of a fifth Hopeful win with Be You and Pirate.
A field of 11 is entered, and with just a race or two on their resumes, there are plenty of chances to make some money for savvy handicappers.
Muth, Mission Beach
Muth (the 5-2 favorite), a $2 million purchase in April by Saudi Arabian billionaire Amr Zedan, won his first career start by 8 ¾ lengths at Santa Anita on June 18. In the 6-furlong Best Pal (G3), he was bumped by stablemate Prince of Monaco at the start, battled back and briefly took the lead from him but was beaten 4 ¼ lengths. Baffert said Muth “got caught up in a speed duel and got beat by a good horse,’’ referring to Prince of Monaco.
“He’s a fast horse and he got a little tired last time. It’s a different track and we don’t know how he’s going to handle it, so hopefully he handles it well,” Baffert said.
Mission Beach (10-1) is 1-for-1, winning by 1 ¼ lengths at Del Mar on Aug. 5. Baffert calls this son of Curlin a two-turn horse. He will be ridden by John Velazquez leaving from post 4; Muth leaves from post 7 under Flavien Prat.
“He’s bred for longer distances. He’s not a sprinter and usually the sprinters are tough in those races,” Baffert said. “We’re hoping for a dry, fast track. He’s a nice horse and we’ll learn more about him.”
Pletcher’s duo
“He’s been impressive even before his debut and he’s had a good series of breezes since then,’’ Pletcher said. “We’re optimistic that he’s about to make another step forward.
Be You (9-2) and Just Steel (10-1) went at it at the Spa on Aug. 5, with Lukas’ Just Steel winning by a nose after a little bumping and lead-changing in the final sixteenth of a mile in the 6-furlong race.
“He just got beat in a tough maiden race and he’s been training well since then,” Pletcher said. “We’re looking at it like he got beat by a nose, and if he had won by a nose we would be running here.”
Ortiz has the call aboard Be You from post 10; Joel Rosario rides Just Steel out of post 1.
Timberlake also a winning option
And let’s not exclude the chances of Brad Cox-trained Timberlake (4-1), an impressive 9 ¼-length winner at Ellis Park on July 21.
“He’s very precocious and he continues to do well. He’s always been a horse that stood out as a top talent. We’ll see if he’s a Grade 1 talent on Monday,” Cox said.
Asmussen sends out two, Gold Sweep, Valentine Candy
Post time for the Hopeful is 5:44 p.m. ET
The picks: 1 Muth 2 Timberlake 3 Pirate
Bernard Baruch on undercard
Wit makes his long-awaited return in the $150,000 Bernard Baruch for older turf horses going 1 1/16 miles.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old returns after a seven-month break following an eighth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. His two biggest wins came at the Spa – an eight-length win in the 2021 Sanford (G3) and a 2 ¾-length score in the 2022 Better Talk Now.
“We gave him a little break and freshened him up. It took a little while to get him ready, but here we are,’’ Pletcher said. “It’s a challenge off the layoff, but we like the way he’s doing.”
Wit has a record of 11-4-3-2. Jose Ortiz rides from post 4. A field of six is entered.
The field for the $300,000 Hopeful (G1), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Just Steel (Joel Rosario, D. Wayne Lukas), 10-1
2 Yo Yo Candy (Angel Castillo, Danny Velazquez), 20-1
3 Nutella Fella (Junior Alvarado, Gary Contessa), 30-1
4 Mission Beach (John Velazquez, Bob Baffert), 10-1
5 Timberlake (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox), 4-1
6 Gold Sweep (Jose Ortiz, Steve Asmussen), 6-1
7 Muth (Flavien Prat, Bob Baffert), 5-2
8 Baytown Chatterbox (Dylan Davis, Paul McEntee), 50-1
9 Valentine Candy (Tyler Gaffalione, Steve Asmussen), 12-1
10 Be You (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher), 9-2
11 Pirate (Javier Castellano, Todd Pletcher), 8-1