Sweet Memories Bubble Up for Baeza's Chances

No one knows who first said, “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” but John Shirreffs does not care. The trainer will settle for a simple couplet April 5, when he sends the McKinzie colt Baeza into the lion’s den of the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1) against such meat-eating beasts as Citizen Bull, Journalism, and Barnes. It was on Santa Anita Derby day of 2007 that Shirreffs led over the 29-1 outsider Tiago and watched from his quiet perch beneath the clubhouse box seats as the son of Pleasant Tap shocked the duo of Sam P. and King of the Roxy, trained by Todd Pletcher and assistant trainer Michael McCarthy, along with an array of promising 3-year-olds emanating from the stables of Doug O’Neill, David Hofmans, John Sadler, and Jerry Hollendorfer. The purse for the 2007 Santa Anita Derby was $750,000. A decade later it was up to a cool million, and look who was back for more. Shirreffs threw both Gormley and Royal Mo at the 2017 running of the race and came away with first and third money, while the three colts entered by Bob Baffert finished fourth, eighth, and 12th. Then came 2020, a season of grief and turmoil, reflected at an angle by the Thoroughbred racing world and its shuffling of major events because of COVID-19 closures and restrictions. The Santa Anita Derby took place on the first Saturday in June, where in happier times a Belmont Stakes (G1) would have been celebrated. The house that Doc Strub built was eerily empty, and the purse had been slashed to $400,000, but the young runners didn’t care. Honor A. P., a striking dark bay or brown generously decorated with white highlights, seized the day by nearly three lengths to give Shirreffs his third local Derby. Baffert ran a pair, and so did McCarthy, by then on his own. They finished second and third to Honor A. P., who was owned by Lee and Susan Searing’s C R K Stable, and whose dam, Hollywood Story, was trained to more than a million in earnings by Shirreffs. Now comes the 88th running of the Santa Anita Derby, and it is raining rhymes. Five entered, two from Shirreffs—both owned by the Searings—and two from Baffert, plus the powerhouse favorite trained by McCarthy. Citizen Bull, Barnes, and Journalism have been getting all the press, while Shirreffs has been lingering in the weeds with Baeza, who was last seen winning a maiden event on Valentine’s Day by putting nearly five lengths between his twitching tail and his closest pursuer. It goes without saying that Shirreffs liked what he saw, and nothing Baeza has done since has discouraged his trainer. In his mind, throwing the colt into the deep end of the pool for his first stakes attempt is not some Hail Mary for Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points, but rather a fairly sensible progression to the right distance in a relatively controlled home field environment. The Searing-Shirreffs connection also will be represented by the maiden Westwood, a son of Authentic, which means this will be the first time as few as five will run in the Santa Anita Derby since 2006, when A. P. Warrior finished third for Shirreffs behind Brother Derek. Before that, only once were there so few, in 1946, when the 3-year-olds of the 1943 foal crop numbered 5,923. “We’ve got them shaking in their boots,” Shirreffs said with a laugh, as he readied to send out the fourth and fifth betting choices. But seriously, does he think that Baeza has the goods to surprise a champion like Citizen Bull, winner of the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) in February, or a heavyweight contender like Journalism, who beat the $3.2 million Barnes in the more recent San Felipe Stakes (G2)? “It’s hard to say,” Shirreffs replied. “He’s worked good, and he’s taken the work really well. One of the things I like about him is that he’s very light on his feet. He doesn’t hit the ground hard. In addition to his pedigree, he’s got that very repeatable stride that just keeps going. Sometimes you’ll watch horses, and as they go along the spring’s getting a little unwound. But with him, the spring stays tight all the way.” Lee Searing, a lifelong fan, named their colt after the similarly graceful Hall of Fame jockey known for his cool demeanor and elegant posture on horseback. On his way to the Hall of Fame (class of 1976), Braulio Baeza won five national championships, two Eclipse Awards, and in one stretch of the late 1960s he was the regular rider of the Horse of the Year four times in five seasons, a group that included fellow Hall of Famers Buckpasser, Dr. Fager, and Arts and Letters. Braulio turned 85 in March. Baeza’s pedigree marks him as a half brother to the full brothers Mage, winner of the 2023 Kentucky Derby, and Dornoch, winner of the 2024 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Such a lineage would account for Baeza’s $1.2 million yearling price tag, as well as the fact that his breeder, Robert Clay’s Grandview Equine, stayed in to partner the Searings. Still, there are no guarantees. Not every family can boast an Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe Cartwright, or a Henry and William James. Jimmy and Billy Carter come around far more often, so it is always best to focus on the individual, which is what Shirreffs does every time Baeza comes out of his stall. “He is a little bit on the leggy side,” Shirreffs said. “Not real long, but a little leggy. He’s not what you’d call a tank. He’s just under 16 hands. I weigh my horses, and especially him, because he’s a May foal. For a young horse adjusting to the work load, sometimes they hit a little plateau and start backing off their feed. He came in at 1,081, after losing about 10 pounds in his race, so he’s gained a bit back and been holding that well.” The tired cliché describes a five-horse contest as a “rider’s race,” when all races are determined in large part by what riders decide to do. It’s just that in a five-horse field they can all see what the others are up to. “With only five horses, it will be hard for a horse to really surprise the others,” Shirreffs said. “I’m thinking Citizen Bull will go to the lead, right? And then Barnes lays right off of him as a blocking move on Journalism, who’s sitting third. “I’ve been fortunate in riding some really good jockeys and never had to give them instructions,” Shirreffs added. “You hate to put a bug in somebody’s ear, then the gate opens and everything changes.” Hector Berrios rides Baeza again, while Tiago Pereira will be back aboard Westwood, a colt described by Shirreffs as “so lazy in the morning you never know what he might do in the afternoon.” He also cost $700,000, so he’d better start earning his keep. After a successful career in Chile and a swing at the Florida circuit, Berrios, 37, arrived in Southern California in the summer of 2022 and won a small stakes at Del Mar with his second mount. Since then, he has acquired a handsome collection of major stakes wins for local stables and nearly pulled off a major score in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Keeneland when beaten a dirty nose on Blue Stripe (ARG) by champion Malathaat. Berrios also won 14 stakes aboard the recently retired California Horse of the Year, The Chosen Vron. And just to prove the iron is hot, he took the San Luis Rey Stakes (G3T) March 22 for Shirreffs aboard Atitlan and finished second to Locked in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) with the Searing-Shirreffs stalwart Express Train. “We’ll need a lot of luck,” Shirreffs conceded, “so I’ll be looking for it wherever I can. If I see a homeless person on the way to the track I’ll sure stop. You can never have too much good karma.”