Bast Retired Due to Injury; Game Winner Returns

The past 24 hours have been a case of good news/bad news for Bob Baffert's barn, which lost multiple grade 1 winner Bast to a soft tissue injury but welcomed the return of champion Game Winner, who worked for the first time Feb. 20 after a five-month lay-up.

Charles and Susan Chu's Bast, a daughter of Uncle Mo  who won three grade 1s last year and was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), was retired after soft tissue damage was discovered in a front ankle, according to Baffert.

"A couple of days ago, we noticed a little filling. We thought she had hit it on something, but an ultrasound showed some soft tissue damage," Baffert said. "She was going to need four months off, so she was going to miss the Kentucky Oaks (G1). And with these things, they are not guaranteed they'll come back, so we made the decision to retire her."

The trainer did not know whether the Chus, who race as Baoma Corp., will decide to sell Bast or breed her.

"I'm sure a lot of people want to buy her," he said. "She is so beautiful. You hate to see them go, but she did a lot."

Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni bought Bast as a yearling in 2018 on behalf of the Chus for $500,000 out of Taylor Made Sales Agency's consignment at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The filly finished second in her debut at Del Mar and then followed with an 8 3/4-length win in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1). She also won the Chandelier Stakes (G1) and the Starlet Stakes (G1), compiling a 3-1-1 record during her juvenile season and earning $732,200.

Bast launched her sophomore campaign in good form Jan. 5, taking the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park by 1 3/4 lengths. 

Bred in Kentucky by BlackRidge Stables, Bast is out of the Arch mare Laffina, who is a half sister to grade 1-placed grade 2 winner Mananan McLir (Royal Academy) and black-type winners Big Sur (Malibu Moon ) and Charming N Lovable (Horse Chestnut). 

Meanwhile, Gary and Mary West's Game Winner, a three-time grade 1 winner and the 2018 champion 2-year-old colt, returned to the work tab Feb. 20 at Santa Anita, where he breezed three furlongs in :36 3/5.

"He looks great," Baffert said. "You know, last year he was always trying to catch up. Now that he's had time off, I see a big campaign with him this summer. He is a bigger, stronger horse." Game Winner got his freshening at Dell Ridge Farm near Lexington.

Baffert said the 4-year-old son of Candy Ride  is not being pointed at a particular race, but he expects to look for something in May for his 2020 debut. 

Game Winner didn't have a bad year in 2019 with runner-up efforts in one division of the Rebel Stakes (G2), where he lost by a nose to Omaha Beach , and a half-length loss to Roadster in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). He went on to finish fifth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and won the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) in July, which gave him a fifth win in eight starts and raised his earnings to $2,027,500.

Also working Feb. 20 at Santa Anita was grade 1 winner Improbable, who went five furlongs in 1:01 4/5. Baffert said no race has been picked out yet for the 4-year-old son of City Zip.

"He worked great, too, and is coming around quickly," he said.

Owned by partners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club International, and Starlight Racing, Improbable has been working steadily since Feb. 2 when he went three furlongs in :36 4/5. The colt has since worked five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 Feb. 8 and 1:00 2/5 Feb. 14.

Improbable was undefeated in three starts at 2, getting victories in the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity (G1) and Street Sense Stakes. At 3, he faced similar challenges as Game Winner, finishing second in the other division of the Rebel Stakes by a neck to Long Range Toddy and coming in second behind Omaha Beach by a length in the Arkansas Derby (G1). Improbable won the listed Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar and then went unplaced in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) and Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Baffert said he's glad to see more opportunities to keep horses like Game Winner and Improbable in training.

"Now that we have more of these big races, I see more owners wanting to keep the older horses racing," he said.