Kafwain Taking a Charmed Path

By winning Saturday’s $150,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita, Kafwain continued on an imposing trail. Silver Charm won the San Vicente in 1997, and three months later won the Kentucky Derby.

There’s another Silver Charm-Kafwain connection. Silver Charm holds the record for the San Vicente, which has been run at seven furlongs since Swaps won it in 1955, but Kafwain came close Saturday. His time of 1 minute 21.12 seconds just missed Silver Charm’s 1:21.07 clocking.

“Kafwain is a big, heavy horse like Silver Charm,” said Bob Baffert, trainer of both horses. “He reminds me of Silver Charm, training him. Usually you have to nudge on him to get him going, but today he just did it on his own, and he’s been working that way, so that’s really encouraging.”

Baffert, who has won three of the last six Derbies, including last year’s with War Emblem, has nominated 17 horses for this year’s Triple Crown. At the top of his crop is the undefeated Vindication, who won all four starts to cement the Eclipse award for best 2-year-old male of 2002. Baffert said last week that Vindication will run twice, but not until March, before the Kentucky Derby, which will be run May 3.

“Bob told me that he was going to take his time with my horse,” said Satish Sanan, who bought Vindication as a yearling for $2.15 million. “And I told him to take all the time he wants.”

Vindication beat Kafwain by 2 3/4 lengths as they ran 1-2 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in October. Going into the San Vicente, Kafwain’s only start after the Breeders’ Cup had been a second-place finish -- changed to fourth following a disqualification -- in the Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 21.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, who won the Derby with War Emblem, Kafwain circled the field on the turn for home and beat Sum Trick by 4 1/2 lengths. Kafwain, who paid $3.60, has four wins, two seconds and one third in nine starts. His only win around two turns came in the Norfolk at Santa Anita in October.

The Thoroughbred Corp., which also raced War Emblem, paid $720,000 for Kafwain as an unraced 2-year-old.

“He didn’t need to win this race,” Espinoza said, “but he needed to run well and come back safe. Now he’ll come back and run long again the next time, and we’ll see what he can do.”

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Robledo, who was pulled up and vanned off the track after the Santa Catalina on Jan. 18, beat 3-10 favorite Siberland by three-quarters of a length in the $100,000 Turf Paradise Derby. Siberland had won four in a row, by combined margins of 28 lengths. Ridden by David Flores for trainer Vladimir Cerin, Robledo paid $6 and ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41 3/5.... Laffit Pincay rode Century City to victory in the $150,000 Turf Paradise Handicap.... Kafwain was sired by Cherokee Run, who ran second to Prairie Bayou in the 1993 Preakness before winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 1994. During, another Baffert-trained son of Cherokee Run, broke his maiden in the sixth race.... Lindsay Jean, owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, trained by Art Sherman and ridden by Chad Schvaneveldt, won the $100,000 Brown Bess Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.... Like Century City, Harbor Blues shipped in from California, and won the $75,000 Arizona Oaks at Turf Paradise.