Baffert Pair Battle Oviatt Class, Mackinnon in Sham

The past two years, the Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park has been a key prep on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, producing the last two winners of the first leg of the Triple Crown. Authentic   captured both races in 2020, and last year's Sham runner-up, Medina Spirit , took the Run for the Roses, both doing so for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Should Baffert win or place with a horse in the upcoming, $100,000 Sham Jan. 1—and he runs two, Rockefeller  and Newgrange —it may not have the same implications for the classic. Though the Sham offers Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 scale, horses trained by an individual suspended by Churchill Downs do not amass points under current track rules.

Acting as a property owner, Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert through the 2023 spring meet at Churchill Downs after Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone after a first-place finish in the May 1 Kentucky Derby there. Eight months after the race, a stewards' hearing involving the Derby has not yet occurred.

The colt tragically collapsed and died from a suspected heart attack after a Dec. 6 workout at Santa Anita.

Irrespective of Derby points, Baffert, a seven-time winner of the one-mile Sham, still figures to be a force Saturday with his trainees, who take on just three foes, Oviatt Class , Mackinnon , and Degree of Risk .

Rockefeller (Medaglia d'Oro  ) and Newgrange (Violence  ) share similar ownership, though different qualifications. Rockefeller, who races for SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, and Robert Masterson is 2-for-3, having won a maiden race and the Nashua Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park, with a fourth-place finish in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) in between.

Newgrange, owned by Golconda Stable, Madaket Stables, SF Racing, Siena Farm, Starlight Racing, Stonestreet Stables, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Robert Masterson, and Jay Schoenfarber, won his lone start Nov. 28 in a maiden race at Del Mar.

John Velazquez rides Newgrange while Flavien Prat is aboard Rockefeller.

Mackinnon, who races for Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson's ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables, and Dave Kenney, has the class to contend in Saturday's race. That is, if the American Pharoah   colt out of the Scat Daddy  mare Scat Means Go  can transfer his form from turf to dirt. All three of his wins have come at a mile on grass, including two stakes victories, and he was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Del Mar Nov. 5. His only prior start on dirt resulted in a lackluster fourth-place finish in a 4 1/2-furlong sprint at Santa Anita on debut May 9.

"He's always worked good on the dirt," said his trainer, two-time Derby winner Doug O'Neill. "His debut on dirt wasn't as good as we hoped. We've seen a lot of these American Pharoahs run well on the turf, so we jumped him to the turf, and we started seeing him start showing what we were seeing in the mornings.

"It's one of those things where we're hoping his physical and mental maturity will enable him to run on the dirt at the same level he's been running at on the turf."

Since returning from Del Mar, he has posted four fast breezes at Santa Anita. In a tandem drill over the training track Dec. 19, he spotted an outclassed workmate about five lengths, traveled keenly to reel in that rival, and then overpowered his competition. He covered five furlongs in :59 1/5.

Juan Hernandez, aboard Mackinnon in his last five races, returns in the irons.

"We know the waters are going to be deep on Saturday, but we're thinking he's ready to swim with them," said O'Neill, who won the 2013 Sham with Goldencents  .

Also with Breeders' Cup experience is James Downey's Oviatt Class. The Keith Desormeaux-trained son of Bernardini  ran fifth in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1). Slow to begin, he was checked entering the second turn, then rallied wide past tired horses to finish 8 1/2 lengths behind victorious Corniche , the probable 2-year-old champion.

"Maybe the horse is just not the greatest gate-breaker," said Desormeaux. "But I don't consider that a problem for him. As far as him coming wide, I think that's more due to Kent's style. The horse didn't run his race at Del Mar (in the Juvenile) and I still haven't figured it out.

"We were so excited and pumped up expecting a huge race based on the way he'd been training, and that wasn't only my opinion. He was 20-1 on the morning line and ended up 9-1, so he was a hot horse, an insider's horse, and I think the gamblers were right on, but he didn't produce and I don't have an answer.

"The horse is doing great and I think he's got a huge year ahead of him, so we've taken our time, let him freshen, and the Sham seems like a good spot to get it rolling."

Oviatt Class is 1-0-2 in five starts, a record that includes a third-place finish behind Corniche and Pappacap  in the American Pharoah at Santa Anita Oct. 1.

Desormeaux's brother, Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, rides.

The remaining entrant, Godolphin's Degree of Risk, has four stakes-placings for trainer Eoin Harty, all on turf or synthetic. The most prestigious was a third in the Summer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine Sept. 19.

Umberto Rispoli is aboard the Cairo Prince   ridgling.

Entries: Sham S. (G3)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, January 01, 2022, Race 7

• Grade III
• 1m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 3:05 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Mackinnon (KY)	Juan J. Hernandez	124	Doug F. O'Neill	3/1
2	2Oviatt Class (VA)	Kent J. Desormeaux	120	J. Keith Desormeaux	7/2
3	3Newgrange (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	Bob Baffert	2/1
4	4Rockefeller (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	Bob Baffert	8/5
5	5Degree of Risk (KY)	UMBERTO RISPOLI	120	Eoin G. Harty	12/1