Derby Hopefuls Thousand Words, High Velocity Top Lewis

In what has become almost routine for a West Coast prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented By Woodford Reserve (G1), the $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park Feb. 1 is a race in which trainer Bob Baffert seemingly holds all the aces. 

Baffert, a winner of five Derbys and two Triple Crowns, entered two of the six 3-year-olds in the 1 1/16-mile Lewis: Thousand Words, who won the Dec. 7 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), and High Velocity, who was third in the same race after winning the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) at Del Mar last fall. Thousand Words is the likely favorite, High Velocity the probable second choice.

The Hall of Famer has won the race seven times since 1999, including three of the past five years and most recently in 2019 with Mucho Gusto, who won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) last week at Gulfstream Park.

Thousand Words, 2-for-2, is ranked third in Steve Haskin's weekly Derby Dozen BloodHorse analysis. High Velocity doesn't have the same backing from pundits but remains a colt Baffert likes.

Steve Haskin's Derby Dozen

"I was disappointed in his race at Los Alamitos, but I was running him back a little quick," he said of High Velocity's performance, in which he weakened to lose by 5 1/4 lengths. "I had blinkers on him, and he got a little hot. I took the blinkers off.

"He's been working really well. I just wanted to try him a mile and a sixteenth again. And then if he runs well there, I can go out of town, go to different races where the big pots are."

Owned by Gary and Mary West, the speedy son of Quality Road  won his first two starts, a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita Oct. 13 and the Nov. 16 Bob Hope at seven furlongs before his loss in the 1 1/16-mile Los Alamitos Futurity. Joel Rosario will ride.

Thousand Words, with Flavien Prat up, is the only Lewis entrant with a win at the distance, doing so in the Los Alamitos Futurity by turning back TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) runner-up Anneau d'Or. Collared by that rival in midstretch, he reached down over the final furlong for a neck victory. It followed a half-length win in his Oct. 26 debut at Santa Anita.

"I was really impressed because it looked like that horse was just going to gallop on by him, and when he saw that horse, he just took off again," Baffert said. "He wasn't really tired or blowing or anything."

Video: Los Alamitos Futurity (G2)

A $1 million purchase from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2018, Thousand Words races for Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm. The colt is by Pioneerof the Nile, who won the Lewis for Baffert in 2009 before going on to win that spring's San Felipe Stakes (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) before a second to Mine that Bird in the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert's two Lewis starters are part of a talented group of 3-year-olds within his barn. Others include Sham Stakes (G3) winner Authentic, tentatively pointed for the March 7 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita; quick maiden winner Nadal; and American Pharaoh Stakes (G1) winner Eight Rings, who resumed training last week after a winter break.

Encoder, Tizamagician, Royal Act, and Zimba Warrior round out the lineup for the Lewis, one of three stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, along with the $200,000 San Marcos Stakes (G2T) and the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2).

In the Lewis, dual stakes-winning Encoder moves to dirt from turf, on which he has made all six of his starts; Tizamagician takes on more demanding company after winning a maiden race in his sixth race; Royal Act goes from turf to dirt after a fifth in the Eddie Logan Stakes; and Zimba Warrior seeks to improve upon three consecutive third-place stakes finishes, including the Jan. 4 Sham.

"Tizamagician looked like he turned the corner the other day and won nice," said his trainer, Richard Mandella. "This is obviously a big step up, and we'll just have to see if he's good enough."

Entries: Robert B. Lewis S. (G3)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, February 01, 2020, Race 6

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 3:00 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Encoder (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	John W. Sadler	8/1
2	2Thousand Words (FL)	Flavien Prat	124	Bob Baffert	4/5
3	3Tizamagician (KY)	Victor Espinoza	120	Richard E. Mandella	3/1
4	4Royal Act (KY)	Abel Cedillo	120	Peter Eurton	15/1
5	5High Velocity (KY)	Joel Rosario	120	Bob Baffert	3/1
6	6Zimba Warrior (FL)	Jose Valdivia, Jr.	120	J. Keith Desormeaux	15/1