Trainer Phil Bauer had a career year by both earnings (more than $3.9 million) and wins (33) last year, and he saddled his first Grade 1 winner when Played Hard took the La Troienne. This year, the trainer is ticking off some more high-profile milestones.
Bauer’s stable star at the moment is Jonathan’s Way, who won the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes, the first points race toward the 2025 Kentucky Derby, last Saturday at Churchill Downs. The colt is training up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November.
“Seeing him already reward us is surreal,” said Bauer, a Louisville native who hung out his shingle in 2013. “Being one of the top favorites for both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby is a dream come true. This is the greatest sport in the world.”
Bauer, who had 20 wins and more than $2.2 million in earnings on the season entering Thursday, has a solid chance to win another graded feature Saturday at Churchill. Halina’s Forte, who gave the trainer his first stakes win at Saratoga last month, heads his strong pair for the Grade 3, $300,000 Dogwood Stakes. The Dogwood, for fillies going seven furlongs, is one of four stakes for 3-year-olds on the Saturday card.
Halina’s Forte, owned by Bauer’s patron Rigney Racing, won the Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct going this seven-furlong distance to open her 3-year-old season. She then turned in a pair of efforts that can perhaps be forgiven due to distance and conditions. She was eighth in the Grade 1 Ashland trying two turns, and then fourth in the Grade 2 Eight Belles on a sealed, sloppy track on Kentucky Oaks Day. The Eight Belles winner, My Mane Squeeze, is the morning-line favorite for the Dogwood.
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Halina’s Forte bounced back with an allowance/optional-claiming win at Churchill Downs, then headed to New York. After a solid third in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Aqueduct, she gamely came up the rail for a head win in the off-the-turf Galway Stakes at Saratoga. Bauer is pragmatic about her abilities when selecting races.
“She’s a very nice filly in her own right – maybe not elite,” he said. “As a 3-year-old, you want to run against other 3-year-olds, but when you’re out of conditions, it gets to be deeper waters.”
Bauer also will saddle the interesting Legadema, who has been working sharply at Churchill for her first start since June. The filly won the Goldfinch at Prairie Meadows, then was third in the Leslie’s Lady at Churchill behind Emery, who won the Victory Ride.
My Mane Squeeze is looking for her first win since the Eight Belles. Since then, she was fourth in the Grade 1 Acorn around two turns, third in the Grade 1 Test, and second in the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks.
Fibber has won both her starts since Chris Hartman claimed her, including the Audubon Oaks with a field-best Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
Manama Gold, winner of the Group 3 U.A.E. Oaks, has made two starts for Todd Pletcher in the United States, first finishing a fine third off the layoff in the Jersey Girl sprinting on dirt, but then was a non-factor in the Grade 3 Lake George going two turns on turf. She perhaps gets back to her preferred conditions here.
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