Baffert Barn Adds Belmont Winner

Sarava, the colt who won this year’s Belmont Stakes to prevent trainer Bob Baffert’s War Emblem from sweeping the Triple Crown, has joined Baffert’s horses at Santa Anita for a campaign that could lead to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at the track next October.

In announcing the trainer switch, from Ken McPeek to Baffert, Gary Drake, co-owner of Sarava, said that the main reason for the change was that the Breeders’ Cup would be run at Santa Anita.

War Emblem won this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness but, with a $5-million bonus on the line, finished eighth in the Belmont after a poor start. Sarava, who had never run in a graded stake, paid $142.50 -- a record $2 win price -- in the Belmont.

Sarava hasn’t run since the Belmont. He suffered a hairline fracture of a cannon bone during a workout at Churchill Downs in mid-July.

The colt was sold twice, for $190,000 and $250,000, before he raced, and early this year, Drake, who lives in Louisville, Ky., bought a 50% interest for $250,000. Sarava is also owned by Paul and Susan Roy of Surrey, England. Sarava lost all three starts on grass in England as a 2-year-old before he was sent to the U.S. and introduced to dirt.