Currin Out to End Run by Baffert

A maiden hasn’t won the Del Mar Futurity since Go West Young Man at 70-1 in 1977. William Currin will try to win today’s 55th running of the stake with a non-winner, and under the most difficult conditions.

The biggest roadblocks figure to be the five 2-year-olds trained by Bob Baffert, who, in absentia, will be trying to win Del Mar’s closing-day stake for the seventh consecutive year.

Outta Here ran well against two of Baffert’s juveniles, finishing third behind Kafwain and Chief Planner in the Best Pal Stakes here Aug. 21, but jockey Kent Desormeaux has to figure out how his mount can make up the two lengths Kafwain won by at 6 1/2 furlongs, half a mile shorter than the Futurity distance.

“I think the extra distance will help my horse,” said Currin, who trains and co-owns Outta Here. “Baffert is always tough to beat, but I think my horse is coming up good to this race.”

The $250,000 Futurity will be the fourth race for Outta Here, a $37,000 yearling.

Before the Best Pal, he made his debut at Hollywood Park, running second on July 6, and was back two weeks later for a second-place finish behind Crowned Dancer in the Hollywood Juvenile. In the Best Pal, Outta Here closed from the back of the pack, but never threatened Kafwain and Chief Planner, who finished a length apart.

Baffert’s streak in the Futurity began with Silver Charm in 1996, and that win was followed by victories from Souvenir Copy, Worldly Manner, Forest Camp, Flame Thrower and Officer. Silver Charm won the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but among the other winners, the only horse to reach the Derby was Worldly Manner, who by that time had been sold for a reported $5 million and ran seventh at Churchill Downs for Sheik Mohammed’s trainer, Saeed bin Suroor.

Besides Kafwain and Chief Planner, Baffert’s other starters today are Icecoldbeeratreds, Friendly Mike and Bull Market, a son of Holy Bull. Bull Market’s only start produced a 3 1/4-length win over maidens here on opening day. That was the first of Baffert’s 16 wins with maidens--12 of them 2-year-olds--at the meet.

Baffert has been at Keeneland this week, looking for more young horses. This weekend, he’ll run two more of the futures for next year’s classics: Vindication in Saturday’s Kentucky Cup Juvenile at Turfway Park and Truckle Feature in Sunday’s Futurity at Belmont Park. Vindication, undefeated in two sprints here this season, is a Seattle Slew colt who was a $2.15-million yearling purchase by his owner, Satish Sanan’s Padua Stables. All of Baffert’s 2-year-olds are pointing for the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile--a race the trainer has never won--at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.

Jim Barnes and Tim Yakteen, Baffert’s assistants, will saddle his quintet today.