ARCADIA, Calif. - Martin Garcia is not only the regular rider of Citizen Bull, the champion 2-year-old male of 2024 and a stakes winner at Santa Anita on Saturday. He may be the colt’s greatest admirer.
On Sunday, a day after Citizen Bull won his third consecutive race in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes, Garcia described the colt as a “superstar” and predicts great achievements in coming months.
“I think he’ll do even better,” Garcia said. “He’s more mature.”
This is a good time to remember that the Triple Crown will be held in coming months.
Citizen Bull, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 1, led throughout the $200,000 Lewis Stakes at a mile as the 9-10 favorite, finishing 3 3/4 lengths over stablemate Rodriguez, who was 7-5. Trainer Bob Baffert trains that pair as well as 5-1 Madaket Road, who finished third in the field of five.
Citizen Bull earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for the Lewis, two points better than his Juvenile.
For Garcia, Citizen Bull represented two of his four stakes wins in 2024 and his first this year.
Garcia’s mounts earned a career-best $10.88 million in 2013, followed by $10.85 million in 2014. Garcia has not had more than $7.2 million in earnings since 2015. Last year, his mounts earned more than $5.6 million.
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The recent success of Citizen Bull, and the possibility of greater riches in coming months, is not lost on the 40-year-old rider.
“It means everything in the world right now,” he said.
Garcia, 40, and Baffert were a formidable team in Southern California in the 2010s, winning such races as the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Bayern, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Game On Dude in 2013 and Collected in 2017, and the 2015 Santa Anita Derby on Dortmund.
Garcia is currently based in Kentucky. He gained the mount on Citizen Bull last fall after randomly calling Baffert to say hello on the morning that entries were taken for the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes, the first race of the current winning streak.
It was unclear on Sunday when Garcia will be reunited with Citizen Bull.
“We haven’t figured out a schedule for him,” Baffert said of Citizen Bull. “We’ll see how he trains the next couple of weeks.”
At Santa Anita, Baffert has two options in the next nine weeks before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3 – the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 1, and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 5.
Rodriguez had his stakes debut in the Lewis. The colt was near the front early before settling into third briefly on the backstretch while racing wide. He finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of Madaket Road.
“I thought he would be second,” Baffert said of Rodriguez. “I don’t know if he got squeezed back, but he ran well.”
Baffert has a deep team of 3-year-old hopefuls, including the unbeaten Barnes, winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Jan. 4.
Barnes, who worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds on Saturday, is under consideration for the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, a $1.25 million race at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 22, or the $300,000 San Felipe.
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