When there’s a big race for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert usually has a corner on the market.
On Sunday, the Hall of Famer sends out three of the five horses entered in the $400,000 San Felipe (G2), a Kentucky Derby (G1) prep that excludes Baffert’s colts from earning qualifying points due to the trainer’s suspension by Churchill Downs.
Nysos: The Unrivaled Favorite in the San Felipe (G2)
Nysos headlines the field as the overwhelming 1-5 morning line favorite off a 7 1/2-length romp in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) on Feb. 3. Currently regarded as the top 3-year-old in the country, Nysos is 3-for-3 and gives Baffert his best chance at a record-extending ninth San Felipe victory.
The San Felipe was scheduled for Saturday, but the card was shifted to Sunday because of heavy rains in the forecast. The 1 1/16-mile San Felipe is a co-feature with the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), where Baffert sends out Newgate and Reincarnate.
Scatify, trained by John Sadler, and Mc Vay, trained by John Shirreffs, are also entered. They ran third and fourth, respectively, in the Robert B. Lewis, and they are the only two horses in the race that can earn Derby qualifying points on a scale of 50-25-15-10-5.
San Felipe Stakes: Paving the Kentucky Derby Path
With just five in the field, this is not a great betting race, but Imagination, with Frankie Dettori aboard, could pull a frontrunning surprise at a nice price.
The San Felipe is a steppingstone to the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 6, a Derby prep with a points scale of 100-50-25-15-10 to the first five finishers.
While there’s no Derby for Baffert, Nysos, as are several other of his 3-year-olds, are on a path for the Preakness (G1) on May 18 – the second leg of the Triple Crown two weeks after the Derby.
The San Felipe winner has gone on to win the Derby five times – Baffert’s Authentic in 2020, California Chrome in 2014, Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, Sunday Silence in 1989, and Affirmed in 1978.
The picks: 1 Nysos 2 Imagination 3 Scatify
The field for the $400,000 San Felipe (G2), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Scatify (Hector Berrios, John Sadler), 6-1
2 Wine Me Up (Juan Hernandez, Bob Baffert), 8-1
3 Nysos (Flavien Prat, Bob Baffert), 1-5
4 Mc Vay (Antonio Fresu, John Shirreffs), 20-1
5 Imagination (Frankie Dettori, Bob Baffert), 6-1