Baffert Holding All of the Aces

Trainer Bob Baffert isn’t sure how much Exploit weighs, but he knows it’s not much by horse racing standards.

“He could walk underneath General Challenge,” Baffert said. “General Challenge looks like Phar Lap.”

Baffert’s attempt to make to history--winning three consecutive Kentucky Derbies--is only beginning, but General Challenge and Exploit are undefeated, Exploit weighing in with his fifth victory in a row Saturday when he held off Aristotle by a neck in the three-horse San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.

Few horses are lining up to tackle Exploit, and the $138,000 San Vicente field was whittled down to the nub with the scratch of Futural because of fever.

Bob and Beverly Lewis own Exploit and Silver Charm, whose 3-year-old season began with a win in the San Vicente in 1997. Three months later, Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby, then Baffert repeated at Churchill Downs last year with Real Quiet.

“It’s amazing how much this race reminded me of Silver Charm in the San Vicente,” Bob Lewis said.

About 90 minutes after the San Vicente, Event Of The Year, a horse who missed last year’s Derby because of a cracked knee, won for the first time in 10 months by scoring a 2 3/4-length victory in the $500,000 Strub Stakes.

Before the San Vicente was over, Exploit went eye to eye with both of his rivals. He kept close company with Yes It’s True early, pulled away on the turn for home and then dug in to withstand Aristotle’s late run. Yes It’s True finished seven lengths behind Aristotle. Saturday’s runners-up are sprinters, not expected to be around for the Kentucky Derby on May 1. Exploit beat them by running seven furlongs in 1:22, a second slower than Silver Charm’s stakes record.

If everything goes right, Exploit will make two starts--the San Rafael on Feb. 28 or the San Felipe on March 13, followed by the Santa Anita Derby on April 3--before the Kentucky Derby. Saturday marked the near-black colt’s first start since Nov. 28. He has been favored every time and the San Vicente payoff was $3.20.

“I’m mostly impressed with his versatility and his determination to get to the wire,” said Chris McCarron, who has ridden Exploit since the colt’s career began with a victory at Del Mar last August. “He had to run hard down the backside, hard around the turn to hold his position and hard to the finish to out-game the other horse. That’s impressive. He gave me three really good bursts of acceleration. That’s what you like to see in a horse.”

Exploit, a son of preeminent sire Storm Cat and My Turbulent Miss--a successful broodmare who never raced--was foaled on May 25, 1996, which means that his real third birthday won’t come until more than three weeks after the Kentucky Derby.

The Lewises bought Exploit as a weanling for $525,000, then unsuccessfully tried to sell him as a 2-year-old. He didn’t meet their minimum pre-auction price of $1.5 million, so the Lewises bought him back for $1.475 million. Trainer John Kimmel stopped bidding at $1.45 million.

“[Exploit] doesn’t like to lose,” Baffert said. “He does more in the afternoons than he does [in morning workouts]. Silver Charm is like that.”

Besides Exploit and General Challenge, Baffert’s roster of top 3-year-olds includes Prime Timber, Forestry and Finder’s Gold, besides fillies Excellent Meeting and Silverbulletday.

“All the toughies are in my barn--that’s good,” Baffert said.

And it looks as if many of the toughies for this year’s Santa Anita Handicap are in trainer Richard Mandella’s barn.

After winning the Strub, Event Of The Year is headed for the $1-million race on March 6, and so might stablemates Puerto Madero and Malek. Puerto Madero beat Silver Charm while winning the Donn Handicap last Saturday in Florida; Malek, the winner of last year’s four-horse Big ‘Cap, is second on the morning line after Free House for today’s San Antonio Handicap.

Event Of The Year, favored throughout the Strub series, ran third in the Malibu and second in the San Fernando, races won by Run Man Run and Dixie Dot Com. Run Man Run, sixth in the Strub, went lame in the Strub and was taken off by van. Dixie Dot Com broke a cannon bone in the San Fernando.

“[Run Man Run] ran his brains out against us [in the Malibu],” Mandella said. “Then [in the San Fernando] the other horse [Dixie Dot Com] got the jump and ran the race of his life. [Event Of The Year] is a very good horse who’s got a bit of learning to do. When he left the gate [Saturday] you could tell that he had running on his mind.”

Event Of The Year ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 3/5, two-fifths of a second slower than Silver Charm’s winning time in the Strub last year and earned $300,000 for owners John and Betty Mabee.

Event Of The Year, with Corey Nakatani aboard, stalked Artax for three-quarters of a mile, moving to the front on the far turn. Dr Fong, who had never raced on dirt, finished second, 4 1/2 lengths ahead of Hanuman Highway.

Horse Racing Notes

Bob Baffert also saddled Censored, winner of the Pro Or Con Handicap. . . . Baffert hasn’t decided whether Silver Charm will run in the Santa Anita Handicap or the Dubai World Cup. It’s possible that Silver Charm and Puerto Madero could run in both races. . . . Gourmet Girl, 9-2 on the morning line for today’s La Canada Stakes, was bought Friday for a reported $1 million by Gary Tanaka. The 4-year-old filly, who was sold for $3,500 as a yearling, will move from trainer Pico Perdomo’s barn to Ben Cecil’s after today’s race. His previous owners were Michael and Joe Massengale and Maxene Nazworthy. . . . Trainer John Shirreffs’ win streak reached five races after Cliquot’s victory in the sixth race. . . . Jockey Chris Antley’s comeback will be interrupted by a careless-riding suspension that starts Thursday.