Nadal gives Baffert a sweep feeling
This we know about Nadal: He runs well on the lead or from off the pace. Beyond that, no spoilers yet in this script. To be continued.
With such conciseness did the 3-year-old colt complete a sweep of the 84th Arkansas Derby for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. It was unequaled in track history (the race had not been split since 1960) but not unexpected.
Yet another first Saturday in May turned out bright for the silver-haired man from California,
who watched at home as two horses in his barn remained unbeaten in brief careers. Two races after Charlatan made his record 3 for 3, wiring his rivals by six lengths, Nadal, now 4 for 4, gave Baffert his fifth Arkansas Derby victory.
With lessons learned in the six weeks after winning the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on the lead March 14, the Blame colt settled into second position early and ran down last-out Grade 2 Louisiana Downs winner Wells Bayou at the head of the stretch, winning by three lengths.
“He sat off that horse and then took care of the rest,” said jockey Joel Rosario after his fifth victory on the card and third on Nadal, whose racing career began Jan. 19. “Very good race. He’s a champ.”
Nadal, clocked in 1:48.34, ran the nine furlongs .15 seconds faster than Charlatan earlier in his stakes debut. The 5-2 program favorite, Nadal paid
$3.80, $3.40 and $2.20, leaving behind Storm the Court and Oaklawn graded-stakes winner Silver Prospector among others.
Co-owner George Bolton — once a minority partner in Curlin, whose 2007 Arkansas Derby-Rebel sweep preceded a Preakness victory — bounced in the winner’s circle like a new father. On the 29th day of the season that the grandstand was closed because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Bolton traveled to Hot Springs for the race, acting on a tip from a highly placed source.
“Bob (Baffert) called me two days ago and said he wanted me to come,” Bolton said. “He said he thought he’d run big and wanted me there.”
To no one’s great surprise, Wells Bayou burst to the lead from outside post 9, his ticket to victory in the Louisiana Derby, and turned into the backstretch with Nadal on his tail. Wells Bayou, an early-season Oaklawn winner, looked strong into the far turn, a half-length in front after six furlongs in 1:09.85, before Nadal read his lines as if off a teleprompter. By the time he reached “To be or not to be,” Nadal led by a length and a half at the top of the stretch, going on to cover himself in glory.
Continuing the Hamlet theme, Baffert’s idea of taking arms against a sea of troubles came in the six weeks between Oaklawn visits.
“He went back to California and Bob worked him behind horses three times,” Bolton said. “I thought if there was speed today, he could sit off it. He had a much more comfortable trip than in the Rebel when he was attacked by three different challengers.”
King Guillermo finished a rallying second in an effort good enough to verify his last-out Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby victory at 49-1. Another blessed with speed but on this day sitting off the pace, King Guillermo picked off tiring horses on the far turn, drawing a bead on Nadal in the stretch but unable to go by. A menacing presence until midstretch for jockey Samy Camacho, the Juan Avila trainee finished second by 1 1/2 lengths over 62-1 longshot Finnick the Fierce, a last-out Oaklawn winner through disqualification.
Nadal earned 100 points, King Guillermo 40, Finnick the Fierce 20 and Farmington Road 10 for a possible berth in the rescheduled Kentucky Derby Sept. 5. With the Arkansas Derby falling on the original date for the Churchill Downs spring classic, travel schedules to Louisville are yet to be determined.
“That’s the question everyone’s asking,” Bolton said. “All I can say now is that for this horse, it should be an interesting summer and a helluva fall.”