Corniche races to Juvenile win for embattled Baffert

DEL MAR >> Corniche won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 1 3/4 lengths at Del Mar on Friday, stamping the colt as the early favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, where his trainer, Bob Baffert, has been banned.

Sent off as the 7-5 favorite, Corniche sprinted to the lead and stayed there under 56-year-old jockey Mike Smith. The 2-year-old bay colt ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.50.

“There’s something about the Breeders’ Cup, that for whatever reason, it just takes me to another level,” said Smith, the event’s career money-winning leader among jockeys. “I turn 18 all over again and I just have a blast.”

Corniche paid $4.80 to win. Pappacap was second and Giant Game was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third. Baffert had two other runners in the race: Pinehurt dead-heated for fifth and Barossa finished seventh.

Jack Christopher, the early 9-5 favorite, was scratched by the veterinarian because of a left shin issue.

All of the day’s 10 races — led by five Cup races for 2-year-olds — went off safely on a foggy and unusually cool 60-degree (15 Celsius) day at the seaside track north of San Diego.

In the day’s last race, Albahr was scratched from the Juvenile Turf after the 2-year-old gelding flipped in the starting gate. Initially, the crowd was told that 2-1 favorite Modern Games also was scratched. After a delay of several minutes, it was announced that Modern Games was running for purse money only; no wagering was allowed.

Modern Games won and bettors who had wagers on them were to get their money back. Fans booed as the horses came back to the grandstand afterward. Both horses are trained by Charlie Appleby.

For the first time, all 14 races in the two-day world championships are being run without race-day medication allowed.

Baffert was allowed to enter horses, but the event’s money-leading trainer had to meet certain conditions, including stricter out-ofcompetition testing of his horses and greater security at his barn. He agreed to the extra scrutiny and was required to pay for it out of his own pocket.

Baffert was banned by Churchill Downs for the 2022 and 2023 Kentucky Derbies after Medina Spirit finished first this year and then failed a post-race drug test. The medication involved is allowed in Kentucky, but not on race day. Baffert’s horses have had five failed drug tests in the last year.

Trainer Christophe Clement snapped an 0-for41 slump in the Breeders’ Cup when 9-2 shot Pizza Bianca went from last to first in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Owned and bred by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, Pizza Bianca ran a mile in 1:36.08 and paid $21.80 to win. Jockey Jose Ortiz had a start-and-stop trip, threading the 2-year-old filly through narrow openings created by the traffic from a 14-horse field.

Racing resumes today with nine Cup races, topped by the $6 million Classic.