‘Rising Star’ Brant Leads Baffert Brigade Into Futurity

[Wandering Eyes]

Bob Baffert will send out a capable quartet in Sunday's closing-day GI Del Mar Futurity, a race he has won the last four years and a remarkable 18 times overall.

After sending out future GI Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm (Silver Buck) to scoop the event for the first time back in 1996, he added the next six renewals. His personal honor roll is a veritable Hall of Fame, including champions Midshipman (1998), Lookin At Lucky (1999) and American Pharoah (2014) among the champions to have succeeded at the seaside. The latter won his maiden in that year's Futurity.

Baffert has runners for three different clients, and the only one of those to have not tasted Futurity success heretofore is Zedan Racing Stable. That could very well change if $3-million OBS March topper Brant (Gun Runner) can replicate his 'TDN Rising Star' debut back on July 26, when he defeated the re-opposing Chief Stipe O'Neill-trained Civil Liberty (Independence Hall) by better than five lengths in 1:02.63, good for a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Flavien Prat looks for a third straight victory in the race and his fourth in the last half-dozen runnings.

Desert Gate (Omaha Beach) was a smart debut winner at Santa Anita June 13 and validated that performance with a dominating 8 3/4-length score in the Aug. 9 GIII Best Pal Stakes, a victory achieved while getting nowhere near the bottom of him. Juan Hernandez retains the call.

Baffert also sends out Balboa (Not This Time, $875,000 KEESEP), third in the Brant maiden and named a 'Rising Star' when galloping away by 7 3/4 lengths here on Aug. 10; and Litmus Test (Nyquist, $875,000 FTSAUG), who draws widest of the six off a 3/4-length debut tally over 5 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 16. Hernandez had the call on each last time, but Kazushi Kimura rides Balboa and the visiting Tyler Gaffalione gets aboard Litmus Test.

Brigante (More Than Ready), a stablemate of Civil Liberty, is a two-start maiden and exits a third in the BestPal.

Hey Nay Nay Stretches Out In Juvenile Turf

Assuming he can handle a route of ground for the first time in his young career, Hey Nay Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never) is strictly the one to beat in Sunday's GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf. Having broken his maiden at first asking in a five-furlong Santa Anita maiden June 1, the $300,000 Keeneland September acquisition shipped cross-country and made light work of four rivals to take the Aug. 2 Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park by seven lengths.

Plutarch (Into Mischief) is the homebred son of champion Stellar Wind (Malibu Moon) and gets the blinkers off after running home nicely enough to be second on his one-mile debut to 'TDN Rising Star' Intrepido (Maximus Mischief) Aug. 23. The turf is the hundred-thousand-dollar question.

Won for Lou (Bucchero) was a useful third to Hey Nay Nay in their respective debuts and has the advantage of being one of just two in the field with form over course-and-distance, having bested Born to Rock (Rock Your World) by 1 1/4 lengths July 27.

Proletariat (Raging Bull {Fr}) was third in the Desert Gate maiden, but defeated a next-out winner in a five-furlong turf dash locally on Aug. 1.

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