ARCADIA, Calif. – Sunday is redemption day at Santa Anita for a stakes-winning colt who emerged as a top juvenile last summer on turf before he missed twice in fall.
Hey Nay Nay returns in the $100,000 Baffle Stakes, a hillside sprint for 3-year-olds won by favorites the last five years. To make it six, Hey Nay Nay must catch lightly raced front-runner Greenwich Village and hold off stakes-winning late-runner Later Than Planned. Simple enough.
John Sadler trains Hey Nay Nay, who began his career by winning a maiden sprint at Santa Anita, the Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park, and the Del Mar Juvenile Turf in his first route. Two subsequent losses in Del Mar autumn turf routes can be forgiven.
A pace-presser, Hey Nay Nay was compromised by a fast pace when 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. The opposite occurred in his next start. Hey Nay Nay was curiously rated in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes and finished third by a length as the odds-on favortie.
“He took him way back, which he didn’t need to do,” Sadler said of jockey Flavien Prat, adding that Hey Nay Nay “doesn’t need to be in front, but he doesn’t need to be next to last.”
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Hey Nay Nay missed by a length, after which Sadler gave him a break and aimed for a distance cutback in the Baffle.
“We let him resettle, he’s had steady training, he’s shown he can sprint pretty darn well,” said Sadler.
Hector Berrios will ride Hey Nay Nay for the first time since his debut in June.
If the Baffle unfolds as expected, Hey Nay Nay will press Greenwich Village and get first run. However, a softer pace will give dirt-to-turf Greenwich Village a chance to steal it. He won his debut gate to wire, then dueled and cracked 15 days ago in the fast-paced, Grade 2 San Vicente.
Bob Baffert trains Greenwich Village, whose dam was a multiple group-winning turf sprinter from Australia. The surface switch is fine for Greenwich Village, whose rider is Juan Hernandez.
Later Than Planned, making his first start in nearly three months, is the late threat. Phil D’Amato trains Later Than Planned, whose 2-year-old campaign included a runner-up debut in Ireland, a maiden route win in summer at Del Mar, and a victory in the five-furlong Speakeasy Stakes at Santa Anita in the fall. After he finished sixth in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint, D’Amato felt he needed a break.
“He was getting skinny,” assistant trainer Rudy Cruz said. “He came back from the farm, he’s fresh, he’s doing great, put on some weight.”
Later Than Planned has worked three times since returning, and Cruz believes the colt will move forward off the Baffle.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be a perfect race first time back, but he’s doing great,” Cruz said.
Umberto Rispoli rides Later Than Planned.
The four others in the field are Won for Lou, Cal’s Goal, Track Tiger, and Bust Out.
Following the Baffle, the next turf stakes at Santa Anita for 3-year-olds is a two-turn mile. The $100,000 Pasadena Stakes is scheduled for Feb. 22.
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