Sophomores Face Questions in San Felipe

Several questions for promising 3-year-olds could be answered in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park March 7. How will Brant do in his 3-year-old debut for trainer Bob Baffert? Can So Happy carry his speed around two turns? Will Potente—the "other Baffert"—prove best? Or will California-bred Start the Ride, the only stakes winner in the field at the 1 1/16-mile distance, be able to pull off an upset? The San Felipe is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby. It offers qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis. Any look at a Santa Anita 3-year-old prep starts with Baffert, who has won this race nine times, most recently with Imagination in 2024. He brings two pricy sales horses to the San Felipe: Brant, a $3 million Ocala Breeders' Sales Company March 2-year-old, and Potente, a $2.4 million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling. Brant impressed observers in his 5 1/4-length debut victory, followed by a length win in the Del Mar Futurity (G1). He led early in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and finished third behind eventual champion Ted Noffey and Mr. A. P. Baffert urged Florent Geroux to come to Santa Anita, and the trainer and jockey have already collaborated to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds with Plutarch. Geroux will ride Brant for the first time in the San Felipe. Potente did not start as a 2-year-old and scored by three-quarters of a length in his Jan. 31 debut over six furlongs. "His class showed up today—now he's ready," Baffert said after that performance. "He's not a sprinter; he wants two turns. He's a beautiful horse." Kazushi Kimura rode Potente in that race, but sticks with the more accomplished Secured Freedom. Juan Hernandez will pilot Potente in the San Felipe. Kimura has partnered Secured Freedom in all three of his starts. Trainer Tim Yakteen unveiled the colt last November, and Secured Freedom broke his maiden in his second start Dec. 28. In the 1-mile Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3), Secured Freedom closed well after a wide trip for third. Trainer Mark Glatt purchased So Happy for $150,000 out of the same OBS sale that produced Brant. So Happy is 2-for-2, including the Jan. 10 San Vicente Stakes (G2), but hasn't tried anything beyond 7 furlongs. "He really handled it mentally out of his first race and moved forward like you like to see them," Glatt said after the San Vicente. "He's pretty push-button, and he's not speed-crazy. I think we've got to try him around two turns." Start the Ride, trained by Dan Blacker, has defeated Cal-breds at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the San Felipe. In his Nov. 16 debut, the colt was declared a non-starter after stewards ruled that an assistant starter had held onto him too long when the gate opened. Start the Ride still finished fourth in that race and returned to capture the Jan. 17 Cal Cup Derby by 1 3/4 lengths. Longshots Robusta, sixth in the Lewis, and Flashy Fritz, a recent $25,000 claim, round out the field.