For Baeza, success as a 3-year-old runs in the family.
Baeza, a half-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and 2024 Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, carried on the family tradition of Grade 1 success as a 3-year-old when he captured the Pennsylvania Derby. That win, combined with third-place finishes in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, in addition to three additional graded stakes placings, earned Baeza a nod as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 3-year-old male division.
Mage had won the Kentucky Derby but Dornoch had yet to show himself when Baeza, then an unnamed son of McKinzie, went through the Keeneland sales ring in September 2023. He brought $1.2 million. Baeza is owned by Lee and Susan Searing’s C R K Stable and Robert Clay’s Grandview Equine, the latter also being Baeza’s breeder.
Trained by John Shirreffs, Baeza made one start as a 2-year-old, that coming on turf, where he finished ninth. Switched to dirt, Baeza finished second in a maiden race at Santa Anita before clearing the maiden ranks by 4 3/4 lengths on Feb 14. With the Derby trail beckoning, Baeza went right into the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, where his runner-up finish, three-quarters of a length behind Journalism, had some pundits believing he could win the Kentucky Derby.
:: Full list of 2025 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
Due to a lack of sufficient qualifying points, Baeza remained on the outside looking in at the Derby until two days before the race, when a scratch allowed him into the field. Baeza didn’t have the smoothest of trips in the Derby, but he made a late and wide rally in the stretch, finishing third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Sovereignty while missing second to Journalism by a neck.
Baeza skipped the Preakness and returned home to Southern California before shipping back east for the Belmont at Saratoga. Baeza did not fire like many had expected and finished a well-beaten third, again finishing behind Sovereignty and Journalism.
Undeterred, Baeza was game to take Sovereignty on again in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy. From the three-eighths pole to the sixteenth pole, Baeza ran with Sovereignty but had to settle for second best, this time beaten one length.
Without Sovereignty and Journalism in the field, Baeza was sent off as the favorite in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing. Eighth early on, Baeza swooped past the field under Hector Berrios and won by 2 1/4 lengths.
The Pennsylvania Derby victory looks stronger when one considers that runner-up Magnitude came back to beat older horses in the Grade 2 Clark on Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs and third-place finisher Goal Oriented won the Grade 1 Malibu for 3-year-olds on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. Meanwhile, Baeza came back in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, where, after a slow start, he ultimately finished sixth, 9 1/2 lengths behind Forever Young.
Baeza will remain in training in 2026. As of New Year’s Day, he had been galloping for two weeks with a tentative return to the races planned for March, Shirreffs said.
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