Can Baffert Win a 17th Del Mar Futurity?

Trainer Bob Baffert’s domination of the Del Mar Futurity (G1) raises two questions for this year’s Sept. 10 renewal: Will Baffert win a record 17th edition and will he run one-two for the third time? Five other trainers have entered horses to try to thwart both of those possibilities.

In 2022, Baffert captured his 16th Futurity with Cave Rock  and clinched the exacta with second-place Havnameltdown . The Hall of Fame trainer had run one-two 20 years before with Icecoltbeeratreds and Kafwain . Baffert-trained Chief Planner  and Friendly Mike  finished third and fourth that year for a Baffert-trained Superfecta.

Prince of Monaco  and Mirahmadi , the two colts Baffert has entered in the 2023 Futurity, have similar ownership and different resumes. SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Dianne Bashor, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Tom Ryan own them both, with Prince of Monaco’s owners also including breeder Stonestreet Stables.

Prince of Monaco cost $950,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale. He began his career with an eight-length triumph in a five-furlong maiden race at Los Alamitos July 9. The son of Speightstown   followed that with a 4 1/4-length victory in the six-furlong Best Pal Stakes (G3) Aug. 13. Flavien Prat rode him that day and returns in the seven-furlong Futurity; Prince of Monaco drew the rail.

Mirahmadi, a son of Into Mischief   who sold for $1,050,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale, became stakes-placed in his racing debut, but remains a maiden after three starts. He finished second in the June 17 Fasig-Tipton Futurity at Santa Anita Park | BloodHorse.com Track Profile”>Santa Anita Park and then raced greenly in two maiden events. 

Going five furlongs at Del Mar July 23, Mirahmadi brushed the gate, ducked in sharply at the start, and finished fourth. Trying a mile Aug. 26 at Del Mar, he took the lead on the second turn and looked like he would win easily at the top of the stretch. But he began running erratically, veering out and then veering in, and finished third. His antics cost him, as the stewards disqualified him from third to fourth.

Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at the Del Mar meeting, has piloted Mirahmadi in all of his starts. The jockey sticks with the colt, who drew post 3.

Raging Torrent , a son of Maximum Mischief trained by Doug O’Neill, in only two starts has faced a plethora of Baffert runners costing considerably more than his $75,000 purchase price at this year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s April 2-year-old sale.

In his debut, the same July 23 maiden race in which Mirahmadi competed, Raging Torrent won by 2 1/4 lengths. Tall Paul , a Baffert trainee and $475,000 son of Frosted  , finished third in that race. Tall Paul subsequently traveled to Saratoga Race Course | BloodHorse.com Track Profile”>Saratoga Race Course, where he broke his maiden by three lengths at 4-5 over Quiet Wisdom , an Into Mischief colt trained by Todd Pletcher. 

Raging Torrent returned in the Best Pal and finished third to Prince of Monaco and Baffert-trained Muth , a $2 million 2-year-old. Antonio Fresu rode Raging Torrent in both of his races and will be back aboard from post 4.

Tim Yakteen trains Rothschild , a Del Mar Futurity entrant owned by the same ownership group as Prince of Monaco. Rothschild, a son of Uncle Mo  , cost $700,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale. The colt finished fifth in Raging Torrent’s maiden race and then broke his maiden by 5 1/4 lengths going 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 25 at Del Mar. Ramon Vasquez is set to ride from post 5.

Mary’s Boy Bolt  at 50-1 won the Aug. 26 mile race in which Mirahmadi was disqualified, edging Malibu Rain  by a nose. The Bolt d’Oro   colt had gotten away slowly in Raging Torrent’s maiden race and finished last.

Next Level , trained by Keith Desormeaux and to be ridden by Desormeaux’s brother Kent from post 6, ran fifth in the Fasig-Tipton Futurity in his debut. He returned Aug. 5 to vie with Mission Beach  on the front end of a six-furlong maiden race and finished second to that rival by 1 1/4 lengths.

Valiant Knight  has yet to meet any of his Del Mar Futurity rivals. That’s because up to now, the son of Uncle Mo has been competing in Wyoming. He is by far the most experienced in the field, having started six times at such venues as Energy Downs, Wyoming Downs, and Sweetwater Downs. He has won three races, including the Big Horn Futurity and Sweetwater Futurity, and he ran third in the Cowboy State Open Futurity.