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| Coil walked away dirty but victorious after the Santa Anita Sprint Championship in October
(Benoit Photos) |
Two months out from the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, Hall of Fame trainer
Bob Baffert already has stable star Game On Dude penciled in for the prestigious
1 1/4-mile test. While that one awaits the Grade 2 San Antonio on February 3,
several of his stablemates will try to prove their Big 'Cap credentials in
Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000
San
Pasqual over 1 1/16 miles.
The most accomplished of Baffert's four starters is Coil, whose Grade 1
wins include the 2011 Haskell Invitational and the 2012 Santa Anita Sprint
Championship. Coil completed last season on a slight downturn, finishing seventh
over a speed-friendly track in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint and third behind Stay Thirsty and Groupie Doll in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile.
Following the San Pasqual, Coil will enter stud duty at Magali Farms near
Santa Ynez, California.
Jaycito is winless in stakes company since taking the Grade 1 Norfolk in
October 2010, but has posted two solid allowance wins over the past six months,
including a 2 1/4-length decision at Hollywood Park December 1.
Bank the Eight, a six-year-old who has raced only 11 times, was a dynamite 5
3/4-length allowance winner at Hollywood two back, but has been beaten soundly
in two other starts for Baffert following a 15-month layoff. The return to dirt
might help the former Pimlico stakes winner.
Baffert will also send out the speedy Hoorayforhollywood, a multiple
stakes-placed son of Storm Cat who was most recently third in the Michael G.
Schaefer Memorial Mile at Hoosier Park in October.
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