ARCADIA, Calif. – It happens every year in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita – a Bob Baffert-trained favorite wins the early season route for 3-year-olds. Saturday, it is Desert Gate’s turn.
Baffert favorites have won the Lewis for seven straight years and Baffert has won the Lewis 13 times. Why should 2026 be any different? Two reasons – Intrepido and Secured Freedom. Though 6-5 program favorite Desert Gate is working super for his comeback and controls his destiny as the likely pacesetter, his rivals are legit.
Intrepido already defeated Desert Gate last fall in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita. As for Secured Freedom, his second-start maiden sprint victory ranks among the most impressive of the winter meet. Scary thing is, Secured Freedom might be better around two turns.
Seven are entered the Lewis, which leads to the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 7, followed by the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4. If at least six start in the Lewis, Kentucky Derby points will be awarded on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis.
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Desert Gate is one of three Baffert runners in the Lewis, along with Grade 1-placed Plutarch and maiden Cherokee Nation. It is routine for Baffert to start multiple runners. Since last summer, Baffert trainees have accounted for 17 of 34 runners in the six unrestricted California dirt stakes for 2-year-olds of 2025/3-year-olds of 2026.
From the start, Desert Gate was a star. Sired by Omaha Beach, he followed his debut victory in spring with a romp in the Grade 3 Best Pal at Del Mar, a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, and a runner-up finish racing two turns in the American Pharoah. A hock infection knocked Desert Gate out of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and Baffert set sights on 2026.
“He worked [Jan. 31], and he looked really good,” Baffert said.
Working inside Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity winner Litmus Test, Desert Gate was strong to the wire. Both were timed in 1:00.60, but Desert Gate went easier. Juan Hernandez rides Desert Gate, whose rail draw dictates a front-running strategy. The colt is owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman.
Litmus Test, scratched from the Southwest Stakes on Friday at Oaklawn Park, will aim for the San Felipe next month.
Plutarch comes off a dominant maiden win on turf.
“I want to run him on dirt, see what he does,” Baffert said.
Plutarch handled dirt last fall when he finished third in the American Pharoah while still a maiden. Florent Geroux rides Plutarch.
Cherokee Nation was supplemented to the Lewis after a bad-trip runner-up finish in a maiden route. He broke slowly, lost ground, and finished well. Antonio Fresu rides Cherokee Nation.
Intrepido, trained by Jeff Mullins, emerged as a top juvenile last year. He followed a second-start maiden route win with an upset in the American Pharoah, and he entered the BC Juvenile as a live contender. Things went wrong inside the gate.
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“He got a little wiggly in there and they grabbed his ear, and that was it,” Mullins said.
Intrepido broke last, trailed the field, and finished fifth by 10 lengths. He has something to prove when he returns Saturday from a three-month break.
“He’s got to show up again and prove that he’s still the same horse he was when we started,” Mullins said.
A ridgling by Maximus Mischief, Intrepido has given Mullins no reason to believe otherwise.
“He’s training just like always,” said Mullins. “Hopefully, he’s a gentleman in the gate and leaves there running.”
Hector Berrios rides Intrepido, the 7-2 second choice owned by Ruben Islas and Michele Arthur, who are officially listed as Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures.
Secured Freedom, the least seasoned Lewis entrant with just two sprints under his belt, is arguably the most exciting in the field. Tim Yakteen trains Secured Freedom, a Practical Joke colt whose challenge is to reproduce his sprint form around two turns.
“I don’t think [distance] is a challenge. It’s just the level of competition, having to step up,” Yakteen said. “He’s always given us the impression that he’s going to excel going two turns. He’s going to have to take a big step forward to go against this group, but we have to jump in the pool and see where we belong.”
Kazushi Kimura rides Secured Freedom, who earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure last out dominating maidens. From the outside post on Saturday, he should be forwardly placed at less than his 6-1 program odds. Secured Freedom is owned by Pierre and Leslie Amestoy and Roger Beasley, who campaigned 2023 Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move, also trained by Yakteen and sired by Practical Joke.
The Lewis is race 8 Saturday on a card that includes the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf (race 5), the Grade 2 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes for female sprinters (race 6), and the $100,000 Sweet Life Stakes for 3-year-old turf fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs on the hill (race 9).
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