Baffert still tops ranking
Life Is Good holds on to No. 1; Caddo River falls after flopping in Rebel
Spring will be sprung on Saturday, and that means we are barreling ever closer to the Kentucky Derby on May 1. And, as it has been all through the winter, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert continues to dominate our Derby Dozen list.
Baffert, who is looking to win the Run for the Roses for a record seventh time, has five horses on our 12-horse list. It seems like every week a different Baffert horse does something impressive. Last week was no exception.
The top spot on our list has been owned since the start by Life Is Good, the runaway winner of the San Felipe in California a couple of weeks ago. Last week, another Baffert runner, Concert Tour, had his own rout when he dominated the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, winning by 4 1⁄4 lengths.
Baffert has two other mainstays on our list in Medina Spirit, who was second to Life Is Good in the San Felipe, and Spielberg, who ran second behind Essential Quality in the Southwest at Oaklawn Park.
This week, there is a new addition to the Baffert roster in Hozier, who made his stakes debut in the Rebel and was second at odds of 18-1. Who knows how good this son of Pioneerof the Nile might turn out to be?
Even though it seems like this Derby list is a Baffert party, there are others. Essential Quality, who is No. 1 on many other Derby rankings, is one of three Brad Cox-trained horses on
our list. The others are Mandaloun, who will run in Saturday’s Louisiana Downs at Fair Grounds, and Caddo River, who stays on our list despite flopping in the Rebel.
Caddo River was the 6-5 favorite in the Rebel but was no match for Concert Tour. He’ll get another chance against him in the Arkansas Derby on April 10.
Cox admits that he watches what the other trainers are doing on the road to the Triple Crown.
“You’ve got to pay attention to every region,” Cox said. “This is what it’s all about: watching other horses run in prep races and comparing your horse to them and how you think you’ll stack up.”
Cox was not about to give his scouting report on the likes of Life Is Good or Concert Tour. He is impressed with both, maybe more so Concert Tour because he saw him up close when he dusted his horse, Caddo River.
The Rebel was Caddo River’s first
graded stakes race and followed a 10 1⁄4-length win in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn on Jan. 22.
Mandaloun, a son of Into Mischief, has won three of four career starts, the latest being a 1 1⁄4-length win in the Grade II Risen Star at Fair Grounds on Feb. 13. The $1 million Louisiana Derby will be run for the second straight year at 1 3⁄16 miles. It is the longest of the Kentucky Derby prep races.
The race will also be the first Derby qualifying race worth 100 points to the winner.
“He has plenty of leg, he’s got a beautiful stride,” Cox said about Mandaloun. “I really don’t think distance is going to be an issue. The Derby winner (Authentic) was by Into Mischief and (Mandaloun) has certainly acted like the further he goes, the better he could get.”
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