From Last to First, Quality Road’s Greenwich Village Takes the Baffle

[Wandering Eyes]

Greenwich Village (c, 3, Quality Road–Houtzen {Aus}, by I Am Invincible {Aus}) not only got his blinkers off and switched surfaces, but also completely changed tactics Sunday in Santa Anita's Baffle Stakes, eschewing his pace-setting and pace-pressing past while opting instead to drop back to last down the hillside turf course.

While he caboosed the field, 25-1 Track Tiger (Sharp Azteca) and 5-2 Later Than Planned (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) battled up front through :22.41 and :44.25 fractions. The first half-dozen runners stayed tightly packed as Greenwich Village continued to trail by multiple lengths. He unfurled a sharp turn of foot, thundered wide down the course, and reeled in favored Hey Nay Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the final sixteenth to win by a neck.

“After I broke a little slow, I said, 'Okay I'm going to stay here and make one move,'” said winning rider Juan Hernandez. “Crossing the dirt, he crossed like a professional and he was passing horses. I was like, okay let's win this race. It was a really big effort for him because he is a really big horse, heavy, but he has a really good turn of foot.”

Greenwich Village, a $350,000 yearling buy signed for by SF Bloodstock/Starlight Racing/Madaket Stables at Keeneland September in 2024, debuted Dec. 6 at Los Alamitos with a front-running, 6 1/2-furlong score on the dirt, then tried the GII San Vicente Stakes Jan. 10 at Santa Anita, pressing the pace after a slow break and tiring late to finish last. Sunday's Baffle Stakes marked his first try on the lawn.

The winner's dam, a multiple group winner in Australia and group placed in England, sold to Stonestreet for $1.5 million at the 2020 Keeneland November sale. The mare has a 2-year-old colt by Charlatan, who sold to Paul Neatherlin for $25,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, and a yearling colt by Not This Time. She was left open for 2026.

 

GREENWICH VILLAGE ($11.00) fires from last to first winning the $100,000 Baffle Stakes at @SantaAnitaPark under @JJHernandezS19. This 3YO colt by @LanesEndFarms Quality Road is trained by @BobBaffert. @StarlightRacing @MadaketStables @StonestreetFarm pic.twitter.com/k5kVIAAANt

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 25, 2026

BAFFLE S., $101,000, Santa Anita, 1-25, 3yo, 6 1/2fT, 1:12.63, fm.
1–GREENWICH VILLAGE, 120, c, 3, by Quality Road
              1st Dam: Houtzen (Aus) (MGSW-Aus, GSP-Eng,
              $1,599,872), by I Am Invincible (Aus)
              2nd Dam: Set To Unleash (Aus), by Reset (Aus)
              3rd Dam: Leash (Aus), by Redoute's Choice (Aus)
($350,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-SF
Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC,
Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Bashor Racing, LLC, Determined
Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital, LLC and
Catherine Donovan; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings
LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez. $60,000.
Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $91,000.
2–Hey Nay Nay (Ire), 124, c, 3, No Nay Never–Travel, by
Street Cry (Ire). ($300,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Hronis Racing
LLC and Iapetus Racing LLC; B-Lynch Bages, Camas Park &
Summerhill B/S (IRE); T-John W. Sadler. $20,000.
3–Later Than Planned (Ire), 124, c, 3, Cotai Glory (GB)–
Asking Price, by First Defence. (€8,000 RNA Ylg '24 TATIRY).
O-Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables, LLC and
Marsha Naify; B-John P. Mangan & John S. Mangan (IRE);
T-Philip D'Amato. $12,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, NK. Odds: 4.50, 1.00, 2.60.
Also Ran: Track Tiger, Bust Out, Won for Lou, Cal's Goal.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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