Baffert Gladly Swaps Problems for Victory With Captain Steve

After a week filled with legal, chemical and on-track disturbances, things finally brightened for trainer Bob Baffert Sunday when he saddled Captain Steve to win the $500,000 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park.

Before the Swaps, Baffert had been pilloried all over the map--Kentucky, California, Delaware. In Kentucky, he was one of the defendants in a lawsuit brought by the syndicate breeding manager of Real Quiet, Baffert’s 1998 Kentucky Derby winner; in California, the state racing board notified Baffert that its chemists had found morphine in the post-race urine test of one of his Hollywood Park winners; and early Sunday at Delaware Park, Baffert’s star filly, Silverbulletday, finished third, well beaten by Lu Ravi, in the $600,900 Delaware Handicap.

So the Swaps was succor that Baffert craved. He needed rejuvenation as well for Captain Steve, who since winning last December’s Hollywood Futurity had lost five consecutive races before his recent win in the Iowa Derby, which barely counts. Even the Swaps, for a Grade I, was wanting for powerhouse contenders: The entire six-horse field had won only nine stakes--four by Captain Steve--and Baffert’s colt was the only Grade I winner in the bunch.

Still, Baffert and Captain Steve’s owner, Mike Pegram, won’t throw back the $300,000 first-place check. Pegram also needed relief; as the man who raced Real Quiet, he’s also named in that Kentucky suit, and Sunday he was at Delaware Park, where Silverbulletday suffered her fourth consecutive loss.

Captain Steve, ridden by Corey Nakatani for the first time, locked up the 1 1/8-mile Swaps with a stretch run that produced a 2 1/2-length victory over Tiznow, a $15,000 supplementary starter who finished one length ahead of Spacelink. Captain Steve, whose time was 1:48, paid $3.80. He has sixvictories and five thirds in 15 races, with earnings of $1.4 million.

Baffert used the trip to Prairie Meadows as a confidence-builder for Captain Steve, who had been eighth in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness.

“I needed to get a win under his belt,” Baffert said. “You try to put the other stuff aside and deal with the horses. He’s been a different horse since he got back from Iowa, and he’s enjoyed his training.”

Millencolin, who finished fifth, was the pace-setter through fractions of 46 4/5 seconds and 1:10 3/5. Captain Steve lurked in second, never far away, and after taking the lead in upper stretch he had enough in reserve to withstand Tiznow and Victor Espinoza.

Baffert rattled off a wide range of options for Captain Steve, from the Travers at Saratoga all the way to the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. A more immediate possibility is the $1-million Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park Aug. 6.

“I think he stepped up in this race,” Baffert said. “After the horses run through the Belmont, they are pretty well knocked out. This might be a time to capitalize on the 3-year-old stakes.”

Horse Racing Notes

Owners John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery and trainer Paco Gonzalez, who finished third in the Swaps with Spacelink, won the $250,000 Sunset Handicap with Bienamado, capping a big weekend. The same outfit won Saturday’s Hollywood Oaks with Kumari Continent. . . . Bienamado, whose career began in Europe, won the Jim Murray Handicap by seven lengths in his Hollywood Park debut. Coupled Sunday with Single Empire, who was third, the 4-year-old colt paid $2.40 after running 1 1/2 miles on turf in 2:25. He gave jockey Chris McCarron his fourth Sunset victory, and the first since Bien Bien--Bienamado’s sire--in 1993. . . . Squirtle Squirt, with Laffit Pincay aboard, won his fourth in a row with a two-length victory over Legendary Weave in the $105,900 Hollywood Juvenile. Squirtle Squirt’s only loss was a fourth-place finish at Santa Anita on April 21. . . . The Hollywood Park meet ends today with The Seven Seas the 2-1 favorite in the Estrapade Stakes. Del Mar opens Wednesday. . . . The first of two dispersal sales of horses owned by the late Marshall Naify brought $18.2 million Saturday night in Pomona, where Manistique, sold as a broodmare prospect, brought $3 million and David Copperfield went for $2.6 million. Aaron and Marie Jones bought Manistique, and David Copperfield went to a group known as Visionary Corp. There were 93 horses sold. . . . Black Ruby became the first mule to top the $100,000 mark in purses when she was an easy winner of the $10,000 Millennium Mule Challenge at Solano County Fair in Vallejo. . . . The day of the memorial service for Allen Paulson, the owner of Cigar, was listed incorrectly Saturday. The service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at Nativity Catholic Church in Rancho Santa Fe.