ARCADIA, Calif. – From out of nowhere, another hotshot 3-year-old has jumped onto the list of candidates for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Lightly raced Nevada Beach, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Mike Smith, upset odds-on favorite Full Serrano in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita. The 1 1/8-mile race was a Win and You’re In for the BC Classic.
“I’ll think about it,” Baffert said, referring to the BC Classic. “I’ll think about it now.”
Nevada Beach ($19) was making his first start in three months, his first against older winners, and just the fourth start of his career. Who knows how good he may be? The Goodwood certainly was a step forward as he joins 3-year-olds Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza as possible BC Classic starters.
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Nevada Beach “is a good (expletive) horse,” Baffert said. “We’ve always thought really highly of him. He’s getting better and better. Today he showed what he is made of.”
Nevada Beach had to be good on Saturday because the horse he beat, 1-2 favorite Full Serrano, is legitimate. Full Serrano won the BC Dirt Mile last year, and entered the Goodwood off a runaway allowance win.
Full Serrano set the pace while pressured from the inside by Privman, who relinquished the lead on the backstretch. That allowed Full Serrano to briefly cruise by himself. Smith, riding Nevada Beach for the first time, sensed what was happening.
“I went to Plan B and I moved (early), because I thought (Full Serrano) was going to be going slow, and I know if he gets things his own way he was going to be hard to run down,” Smith said.
Smith and Nevada Beach rolled up outside Full Serrano into the far turn. Those two battled into the stretch, before Nevada Beach inched clear to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:48.43. The win earned Nevada Beach his first triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure - 101.
Smith believes Nevada Beach will only improve. The Goodwood was his first start since he won the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby on June 28. Nevada Beach, owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, is still green. Smith hopes to ride Nevada Beach back.
“The crazy thing is he has a lot of upside to him,” Smith said. “He was hopping and ducking, and he still won. He hit the front, he put the brakes on, he kind of switched leads, tried to pull up, and he still drew away and beat them. Wherever Bob puts him (next), if he puts me back on him I’ll be happy.”
Sired by Omaha Beach, Nevada Beach has won three races and $296,500 from four starts. Whether he is good enough to tackle the elites in the BC Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar remains to be seen.
As for Full Serrano, who finished more than three lengths clear of third-place Privman, he is more likely to cut back in distance and aim for the BC Dirt Mile.
“My horse gave me everything he had,” Full Serrano’s rider Juan Hernandez said afterward. It was a tough loss for Hernandez, because he had ridden Nevada Beach his first three starts, but rode Full Serrano in the Goodwood.
After the top three finishers, the order of finish in the Goodwood was First Mission, Ultimate Gamble and Express Train.
John C. Harris Stakes
In the last of five stakes Saturday at Santa Anita, longshot Innovative won the $100,000 John C. Harris by a neck over Lee’s Baby Girl and third-place Warming. Even-money favorite Casalu finished fifth in the about 6 1/2-furlong hillside turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies.
Innovative ($27.40) was sprinting for the first time in her seven-start career. The Harris was her first start in a stakes. She is trained by Phil D’Amato and was ridden by Ricky Gonzalez.
The $2 pick six Saturday paid $14,458.80 to 11 winning tickets. The bet began with a $28,474 carryover; $246,261 in new money was wagered Saturday.
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