For the first time since the spring of 2021, when he began serving what was ultimately more than a three-year suspension by track operator Churchill Downs Inc., Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has a horse in competition at Churchill Downs.
Zedan Racing Stables' Barnes, a $3.2 million purchase by Amr Zedan of Zedan Racing Stables from Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in 2023, debuts in the seventh race at Churchill Nov. 27. The Into Mischief bay colt, to be ridden by Martin Garcia, faces 10 other 2-year-olds in the 5 1/2-furlong, $120,000 maiden race.
This same owner/trainer tandem of Zedan and Baffert raced Medina Spirit, who crossed the wire first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, only to be eventually disqualified after postrace test results showed the presence in his system of betamethasone, a prohibited corticosteroid on race day in Kentucky. For that infraction and other equine medication violations in the years preceding it, CDI suspended Baffert from running horses at its tracks, in addition to a 90-day suspension applied across the country by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The KHRC also fined him $7,500.
Unsuccessful legal challenges contested these suspensions, and when a lawsuit filed by Zedan Racing Stables was dismissed over the summer, CDI rescinded its suspension.
A six-time Kentucky Derby winner, Baffert gears his stable around the development of 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. The trainer ran 1-2 in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar with Citizen Bull and Gaming.
Barnes, bred by Jeff Drown and Don Rachel, will be strongly supported by bettors in his debut, being a striking physical specimen out of the American Pharoah mare All American Dream.
Heading the opposition is BC Stables' Innovator, a D. Wayne Lukas trainee who was twice second at Saratoga Race Course this summer and fifth most recently in the Sept. 2 Hopeful Stakes (G1) there.
Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni signed for the purchase of the Indian Creek-consigned Barnes at Fasig-Tipton last summer.
"If you're going to play the game and you want to buy the top end, you're going to have to stretch, and we stretched," Lanni told BloodHorse at the time of the sale. "The first time we saw him, Bob was like, 'Oh my God.' So that was it. He loved this horse, and he was adamant that we not go home without him."
Barnes is named after Baffert's longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, who often travels with Baffert's top horses when they are shipped away from the trainer's Southern California base.
The colt has recorded numerous quick drills at Santa Anita Park, including a half-mile breeze in :48 there Nov. 15 in company with graded stakes winner Getaway Car, the fourth-place finisher from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Work of the Day from @santaanitapark—Barnes (Outside) and Getaway Car worked 4 Furlongs in 48.00 on November 15th, 2024, for trainer Bob Baffert. pic.twitter.com/Eqg3EZCehm
— XBTV (@WatchXBTV) November 15, 2024
Barnes, unnamed at the time of the Oct. 30-Nov. 1 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, closed as the 39-1 ninth betting choice in the field of 40.
According to Churchill Downs publicity, the colt is scheduled to arrive on track Nov. 21 along with stablemate Nooni. The latter is nominated to the $225,000 Fern Creek Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong dirt stakes race at Churchill Downs for 2-year-old fillies Nov. 30.
