ARCADIA — Bob Baffert’s success with 3-year-old horses at Santa Anita has taken a new form this season.
His fillies, not his colts, have been the stars of the prolific barn’s sophomore class.
When heavily favored Cash Call and jockey Juan Hernandez outfinished stablemate Howin in the Summertime Oaks on Saturday, she gave Baffert six wins – by four different horses – in the 10 unrestricted stakes for 3-year-old fillies scheduled at Santa Anita’s pair of winter-spring meets.
Since December, Baffert has recorded victories by Santa Anita Oaks winner Tenma (two), Casalu (two), Maysam and now Cash Call, who was stepping up to the stakes level and stretching out from 6 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles in the $100,000, Grade III Summertime Oaks.
Meanwhile, Baffert’s 3-year-old colts have two stakes wins at Santa Anita, with a chance to add one in Sunday’s Affirmed Stakes with 4-5 favorite Gaming and 8-5 Nevada Beach.
Those two wins came from Citizen Bull and Barnes. Two would be a good season for most trainers, but it’s a drop from Baffert’s four – by four colts – at Santa Anita in 2024 and five – by five colts – in 2021. Baffert returned to the Triple Crown trail from his three-year Churchill Downs ban with his best results coming from Goal Oriented, fourth in the Preakness, and Rodriguez, fourth behind winner Sovereignty in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
While Baffert was at Saratoga for the Belmont, assistant Jimmy Barnes saddled Cash Call (who paid $3) and Howin.
“We take any kind of success we can get,” Barnes said after the third win in five starts by Cash Call, a daughter of McKinzie owned by Bill and Alex Childs’ CSLR Racing Partners.
Howin and Drayden Van Dyke set the pace in a race reduced to five fillies by the scratches of Thought Process and Baffert’s Silent Law. Cash Call stayed in the clear in third before taking on Howin, who battled before finishing three-quarters of a length behind Cash Call and four ahead of Our Moonlight.
“I felt in her last couple races that she wanted to go long,” Hernandez said. “Mr. Baffert tried it today and it worked out well. This filly was ready.”
It was Baffert’s fourth stakes win overall at the Hollywood Meet portion of the Santa Anita season, tied with Phil D’Amato for the lead in that category.
FINISH LINES
• Raging Torrent gave California fans something to cheer in the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on the day Journalism, Baeza and Rodriguez ran 2-3-4 behind winner Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes. Raging Torrent and jockey Frankie Dettori paid $18 for a front-running upset of Fierceness, with White Abarrio finishing behind third-place Just a Touch. The 4-year-old won the 2024 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar and Malibu at Santa Anita. Trainer Doug O’Neill is four wins from becoming the 24th North American trainer with 3,000.
• Juan Hernandez rode three winners Saturday and moved into second in the Hollywood Meet jockey standings, six behind leader Antonio Fresu with five racing days left.