Baffert, O'Neill 3-Year-Olds Vie in Robert Lewis Stakes

Between Bob Baffert and Doug O'Neill, they have won eight runnings of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). In keeping with that history, the two trainers hold the best hands Jan. 30 in the $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3), Santa Anita Park's second prep of 2021 for the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert, a six-time Derby winner, starts Medina Spirit and Spielberg, while O'Neill, twice a Derby winner, also starts a pair, Hot Rod Charlie and Wipe the Slate. The four are likely favorites.

They already have attracted attention in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. In pool 2 which closed Jan. 24, Medina Spirit was the sixth favorite for the Derby among individual wagering interests at 21-1. Hot Rod Charlie was 40-1, Spielberg 47-1, and Wipe the Slate 87-1.

Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit is the 5-2 morning-line choice in the Lewis, though he does not possess the grade 1 or grade 2 experience of some of his rivals. What the son of Protonico  has done is chase Life Is Good, the early Derby favorite, and remain competitive. Facing him in the one-mile Sham Stakes (G3) after Medina Spirit scored first out in a sprint at Los Alamitos Race Course, he cut into Life Is Good's lead, finishing three-quarters of a length behind him in second. 

Subsequently working with Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) winner Spielberg Jan. 22, the two were officially timed covering five furlongs in 1:01 1/5, though Medina Spirit was superior. XBTV.com video shows him beginning a half-length behind Spielberg and crossing the wire a half-length ahead, then pulling away by a couple of lengths when both were urged for another furlong on the gallop out.

Spielberg, a son of Union Rags  owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm, and Robert Masterson, placed in two grade 1s last year. The colt he beat in the Dec. 19 Los Alamitos Futurity, The Great One, took a maiden race at Santa Anita last week by 14 lengths for O'Neill.

Hot Rod Charlie, a half brother to 2019 sprint champion Mitole , is the more accomplished of O'Neill's duo, having been second in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) Nov. 6 at Keeneland. The Oxbow  colt improved last fall with maturity and longer distance for owners Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing, and Strauss Bros Racing.

O'Neill said Joel Rosario, the colt's new rider, has worked him numerous times and couldn't contain a smile after a workout earlier this month.

The trainer believes that seven-furlong maiden winner Wipe the Slate—owned by Reddam Racing—can also succeed routing, though he has speed influences on the female side of his pedigree. His dam, the Zensational mare Fancy and Flashy, won her only race at 5 1/2 furlongs. She was elevated to third by disqualification in one race at 1 1/16 miles in the 2015 Sunland Park Oaks.

"In the morning, if its any indication, he acts like two turns will not be a problem. He doesn't get tired," O'Neill said of the Nyquist  colt. "He runs kind of with his head low, and to me, those kinds of horses really have tremendous air."

Both colts breezed three furlongs at the end of their gallops Jan. 27, stiffer-than-usual exercise with rain forecast in California Jan. 28-29, O'Neill said.

Rombauer, Parnelli, Roman Centurian, and Waspirant round out the field.

Entries: Robert B. Lewis S. (G3)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, January 30, 2021, Race 7

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 3:37 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Medina Spirit (FL)	Abel Cedillo	120	Bob Baffert	5/2
2	2Rombauer (KY)	Mike E. Smith	120	Michael W. McCarthy	8/1
3	3Parnelli (KY)	UMBERTO RISPOLI	120	John A. Shirreffs	12/1
4	4Hot Rod Charlie (KY)	Joel Rosario	120	Doug F. O'Neill	3/1
5	5Roman Centurian (KY)	Juan J. Hernandez	120	Simon Callaghan	8/1
6	6Waspirant (KY)	Ricardo Gonzalez	120	John A. Shirreffs	20/1
7	7Wipe the Slate (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	120	Doug F. O'Neill	4/1
8	8Spielberg (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	Bob Baffert	7/2