Corniche Delivers as Heavy Favorite in American Pharoah

High expectations for Corniche  just keep getting higher.

The pricey auction purchase improved to 2-for-2 with a front-running 3 1/4-length victory in the $301,000 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park. The 2-year-old son of Quality Road   ran 1 1/16 miles on a fast track under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith in 1:44.75, .45 of a second faster than Ain't Easy 's winning time of 1:45.20 in the Chandelier Stakes (G2) for 2-year-old fillies about an hour earlier.

Corniche returned $2.80 to win as the prohibitive favorite.

Pappacap  ran second, Oviatt Class  third, and Rockefeller  fourth.

Corniche never gave his backers any concern. Hustled to the lead by Smith, he smoothly set fractions of :23.55, :47.26, and 1:11.91, flicking his ears forward at various stages of the race in an indication of how easily he was traveling.

Flavien Prat on stablemate Rockefeller tried to keep Corniche occupied, urging his mount forward to apply pressure, but each time Corniche picked up the tempo and opened up breathing room once again.

He then shook off that fading rival on the second turn, and after a stalking Pappacap surged into contention with a three-wide advance coming into the stretch, Corniche kicked away.

"There's just so much upside to this horse," said Smith. "This is what's really exciting about him. When he broke his maiden as impressive as he did, he just gave me that feeling that we weren't even close to his full potential ... He's a big colt and he carries a lot of flesh.  As he starts to get even fitter and harder inside, he's gonna be a force to reckon with."

Pappacap leveled out down the lane but had enough to outlast a rallying Oviatt Class by a half-length for the place. 

"If you watch the first two or three jumps he stumbled and he was on his head, so he lost a little bit of position that way," said Pappacap's jockey, Joe Bravo. "He sat there outside, but I wish I could have been the horse next to the leader as it might have made the race a little bit different because my horse is a fighter."

After Rockefeller in fourth, the order of finish was completed by Flying Drummer , Finneus , and Joker Boy .

The American Pharoah served as a "Win and You're In" qualifier, qualifying the victor for a free, automatic berth into the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) Nov. 5 at Del Mar. Corniche broke his maiden at Del Mar this summer.

Trainer Bob Baffert trains the winner for Speedway Stables, who purchased him for $1.5 million from the de Meric Sales consignment at this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

"We thought that he was the best-looking colt we bought in five years, the way he moved, his stride, and things like that," said Peter Fluor, who partners with Kane Weiner in Speedway Stables.

The victory in the American Pharoah was Baffert's 10th in the race, which was previously called the FrontRunner Stakes and Norfolk Stakes. One of those prior winners, Gary and Mary West's Game Winner  , repeated in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

"You never know until you send them two turns whether they'll be able to handle it or not, and it looked like he handled it pretty well," Baffert said of Corniche. "He's got a great mind, so I'm pretty happy about that."

Thank you trainer Bob Baffert for taking time to speak with @scotttvg following #1 Corniche's win in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes. Catch all the post-race reaction here! pic.twitter.com/d2eXuyIV2o

— TVG (@TVG) October 1, 2021

The American Pharoah further offered points on Churchill Downs' Road to the Kentucky Derby Series on a 10-4-2-1 scale to its top four finishers, though only Pappacap and Oviatt Class tallied points. Series' regulations state that any horse trained by an individual suspended from the 2022 Kentucky Derby does not amass points.

Acting as a property owner, Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert through the 2023 spring meet at Churchill Downs after his runner, Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit , tested positive for betamethasone after winning the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

When asked about the issue of Corniche not receiving what was to have been 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, he responded, "We're just going to let the process play itself out and not think about that now. The main thing is to keep them healthy and have them ready for the next dance. I just focus on these horses day in and day out."

Bred in Kentucky by Bart Evans and Stonehaven Steadings, Corniche is out of the Najran  mare Wasted Tears . He is the second black-type horse out of his dam, a multiple graded stakes winner who excelled in routes on turf. Her first black-type performer is the stakes-placed Coffee Crush  (Medaglia d'Oro  ), who died in 2019. All six of the dam's foals to start are winners, and she also has a Mendelssohn   yearling filly.

Corniche became the 50th black-type winner for Quality Road, who stands at Lane's End Farm in Kentucky for $150,000. The winner picked up $180,000 for his first-place finish, increasing his earnings to $222,000.

The American Pharoah was one of two Breeders' Cup Challenge races for 2-year-old males Friday at Santa Anita. Earlier on opening day of the Autumn Meet, Illinois invader One Timer  (Trappe Shot )  proved best in the $100,500 Speakeasy Stakes, a qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) at Del Mar Nov. 5.

E. T. Baird was aboard the winner, who sped five furlongs in :55.45. One Timer ($5.80) prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Time to Party , who finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of Forbidden Kingdom  in third.

Trained by Larry Rivelli for Patricia's Hope and Richard Ravin, One Timer is out of the Blame   mare Spanish Star . The unbeaten colt was bred in Kentucky by St. Simon Place.