Baffert has his first Florida Derby starter in Spielberg

A mix of talent, opportunity and timing has produced Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s first venture to Gulfstream Park for the Grade 1, $750,000 Florida Derby (G1).

Baffert, the most successful trainer in Triple Crown history, will make his debut Saturday in Gulfstream Park’s steppingstone to the Kentucky Derby with Spielberg, a chestnut son of Union Rags. Spielberg, who will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in the 70th Florida Derby, won the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) on Dec. 19. In his most fresh start, Spielberg concluded second to Essential Quality, the 2020 2-year-old male champion, in the Southwest (G3) on Feb. 27 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Based in Southern California, Baffert has recorded important victories in his 21 starts at Gulfstream Park. Twenty-nine years ago, he picked up his first Breeders’ Cup triumph with Thirty Slews in the Sprint (G1). More recently, he has won two runnings of the Pegasus World Cup (G1).

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Again this year, Baffert has a deep lineup of Kentucky Derby prospects vying for qualifying points for the May 1 Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

He said the Florida Derby, with its 170 qualifying points contested five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, fit his schedule.

Though undefeated San Felipe (G2) winner Life is Good will miss the Triple Crown while recovering from an injury that required surgery, Baffert has San Felipe runner-up Medina Spirit for the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the first two finishers in the Rebel (G2), Concert Tour and Hozier, for the Arkansas Derby (G1).

He opted to send Spielberg to South Florida, where he will face Greatest Honour, whose three victories over the track include the Fountain of Youth (G2) and the Holy Bull (G3).

“I have all these horses and I’m going to separate them out,” Baffert said. “(Spielberg) ran well at Arkansas. Broke horribly, came on and ran second. He wasn’t going to beat the winner. We’ll take him down there (to Florida). See how he ships down there and see how he stacks up. The California horses, I think, are pretty strong. Maybe I can get lucky if I can win or run second. That would be nice. But it’s a tough task. We’ll give it a try.”

The partnership of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert E. Masterson purchased Spielberg for $1 million as a yearling at the 2019 Keeneland September sale. He developed nicely and Baffert sent him out for his first race on Aug. 8 at Del Mar. After that second-place finish, Baffert moved him into Grade 1 company, where he was second in the Del Mar Futurity and third as the favorite in the American Pharoah.

He stepped back into a maiden race to capture his first victory by a neck and has been in graded stakes since. The Florida Derby will be his ninth career start, the most for any of the horses expected to be entered for the 1 1/8-mile race.

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