Bast and Baffert Tough in Santa Ynez

[Wandering Eyes]

As the only member of the freshly minted 3-year-old crop–male or female–with three Grade I wins securely on her CV, Bast (Uncle Mo) is impossible to overlook in the GII Santa Ynez S., which is worth $200,000 and 10 points toward the GI Kentucky Oaks on the first Friday in May. A $500,000 purchase for Baoma Corp. at the FTSAUG sale, Bast was a close second in her sprinting debut at Del Mar Aug. 11, then blew the doors off the field to break her maiden in the Aug. 31 GI Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs, the same distance as the Santa Ynez. Stretched to 1 1/16 miles for her last three, she won the GI Chandelier S. and GI Starlet S. sandwiched around a third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The cutback in distance won’t hurt her and should give the versatile filly the option of either showing the way or stalking, depending on how the race unfolds.

If Bast doesn’t give Bob Baffert his fifth win in the Santa Ynez, Auberge (Palace) or Golden Principal (Constitution) are both 5-2 on the morning line to pick up the slack. Both ‘TDN Rising Stars’ won their only outs–both at six furlongs–and each could not have been more impressive. Auberge, an Iowa-bred who brought $570,000 at EASMAY from Speedway Stable, decimated her Oct. 27 Santa Anita maiden by 7 3/4 lengths and most recently put in a scintillating bullet work of :47 1/5 (1/142) Dec. 29 over the track. Pegram, Watson, and Weltman’s Golden Principal also worked a bullet Dec. 28 (1:12 4/5,1/8) and was visually imposing in her Nov. 30 graduation.

Jeff Mullins-trained K P Dreamin (Union Rags) is the only filly in the seven-horse field besides Bast to have previously faced graded competition, but she’s finished behind that rival in three straight Grade Is. The $170,000 OBSAPR Karl Pergola runner likes to make a big run in the stretch and will hope to pick up a piece.

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