The second time around was a bit easier for Barnes.
The $3.2 million colt trained by Bob Baffert blew away his rivals for a 5½-length victory in the $200,000 San Vicente Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Barnes, named for Baffert’s longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes, won his much-anticipated debut by a head at Churchill Downs on Nov. 27.
Barnes. Benoit Photo.
Not earning points didn’t stop Barnes from signaling his Kentucy Derby intentions
This time, no contest in his stakes debut. The son of Into Mischief stalked the leader McKinzie Street, moved to the lead at the three-sixteenths pole, and drew off under jockey Juan Hernandez to give Baffert yet another Kentucky Derby (G1) prospect.
The 7-furlong San Vicente is not a Derby points qualifier, but it’s a steppingstone to other preps. Baffert knows this route well as he’s now won this race 14 times and is back in the Derby hunt following a three-year suspension by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI).
“He had a rough trip, shipping, and I knew 5 1/2 was going to be tough,” Baffert, a six-time Derby winner, said of Barnes’ debut. “But he moved way up mentally after that. He’s beautiful — a powerful horse. That was a good race. The second out is the most important for these horses. That’s when you know.”
Baffert already has three of the top four 3-year-olds on the Derby leaderboard – Citizen Bull, Gaming, and Getaway Car.
For jockey Juan Hernandez, it was his fourth straight win in the San Vicente (three of them aboard Baffert-trained horses).
“He’s really good — I love him,” Hernandez said. “He was aggressive down the backside, but he’s still learning how to run. I like him because around the quarter pole he got off the bridle and was kind of looking around a little bit. But when I corrected him, he came back to me. I was really surprised how he finished today.”
Baffert-trained Romanesque finished second in the field of five, with Bullard third, Smooth Cruisein fourth, and McKinzie Street fifth.
Amr Zedan-owned Barnes, the even-money favorite over 11-10 Bullard, returned $4 on a $2 win bet and earned $120,000.
Winning time was 1:22.15.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
