Uncle Chuck, Thousand Words Headline Los Alamitos Derby

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert used the 2019 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) as a return race for Game Winner after a fifth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), and the champion 2-year-old male of 2018 won at Los Alamitos Race Course by five lengths.

This year, Baffert again seems to have a Derby connection—only this time he's looking to use the Los Alamitos Derby as a springboard to the American classic at Churchill Downs that was postponed to Sept. 5 this year due to COVID-19. For the first time, the race serves as an official qualifier for the Run for the Roses, providing qualifying points on a 20-8-4-2 basis to the first four finishers.

Baffert, a nine-time winner of the Los Alamitos Derby, including the past three years, starts two in the July 4 race, runaway maiden winner Uncle Chuck and Thousand Words, the race's only graded stakes winner. They're part of a five-horse field that includes Great Power, a distant third behind Charlatan in an allowance-level race at Santa Anita Park March 14, grade 1-placed Anneau d'Or, and longshot Cosmo, a maiden who has made all five of his starts on turf.

The Los Alamitos Derby, a $150,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, is the sixth race with a post time of 3:28 p.m. PT. 

Although Uncle Chuck is the least experienced member of the field, he is likely to be the most supported. Bet down to even money in his debut in a mile maiden race June 12, he quickly overcame a sluggish start to spurt to the lead on the inside and drew away by seven lengths under Mike Smith—an effort that suddenly vaulted him into the Kentucky Derby picture.

During betting in last week's Kentucky Derby Future Wager, Uncle Chuck closed as the fourth individual betting choice at 13-1, trailing only Tiz the Law, Honor A. P., and Authentic.

"I was going to take him to the Blue Grass (G2), but I'd have to wait a week," Baffert said of the July 11 race at Keeneland. "But this race, I have a little extra time. Maybe I could take him to a race like the (Aug. 8) Travers (G1) if he ran that well. I think he's a really nice horse, but, you know, they have to prove it in the afternoon."

New York-based jockey Luis Saez will travel to California to ride because Smith is riding McKinzie in the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park on Saturday, Baffert said. Saez is the regular rider of Maximum Security, whom Baffert began training this spring after previous trainer Jason Servis was indicted on doping-related charges in racing.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Uncle Chuck was a $250,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by owners Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman from the Summerfield consignment. By Uncle Mo , he is out of two-time graded stakes-winning sprinter Forest Music (by Unbridled's Song).

"He's got a big, long stride on him, jumps a long way," said Baffert, who acknowledged the colt is still green.

Thousand Words, a son of Pioneerof the Nile owned by Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm, is more seasoned, having made five starts, including four in stakes. He took the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) locally late last year and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Feb. 1 before disappointing when fourth in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) March 7 and 11th in the Oaklawn Stakes in Arkansas April 11 after stumbling at the break.

"I think a lot of it was mental," Baffert said of the poor start and performance at Oaklawn Park. "So we backed off, changed a lot of things, took the blinkers off. I've been training him a little bit differently. He's responded really well. He's been working behind horses. He's been doing it willingly, enjoying it."

Flavien Prat will ride Thousand Words for the fifth time.

One of those Thousand Words defeated in the Los Alamitos Futurity, Peter Redekop's Anneau d'Or, faces him again Saturday. The Medaglia d'Oro  colt was also the runner-up in last year's TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita.

He is one of numerous horses from the Juvenile who have not met expectations at 3, though he was competitive in his most recent race in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) June 6, pushing the pace before fading to finish 5 3/4 lengths behind Honor A. P.

Drawn outside under Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza, the Blaine Wright trainee will likely chase projected frontrunner Uncle Chuck early. 

Anneau d'Or has 22 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, ranking 20th. Thousand Words, the only other horse in the race with Derby points, is ranked 17th with 25.

Entries: Los Alamitos Derby (G3)

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, Saturday, July 04, 2020, Race 6

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $150,000
• 3 yo
• 3:28 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Cosmo (KY)	Abel Cedillo	122	Neil D. Drysdale	20/1
2	2Great Power (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	122	Simon Callaghan	6/1
3	3Thousand Words (FL)	Flavien Prat	122	Bob Baffert	9/5
4	4Uncle Chuck (KY)	Luis Saez	122	Bob Baffert	6/5
5	5Anneau d'Or (KY)	Victor Espinoza	122	Blaine D. Wright	3/1