Pricey Baffert Pair Cruise to Del Mar Maiden Wins

This column highlights the performances of maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are grade/group winners, or have dams that are grade/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Del Mar

Two high-dollar juvenile colts turned heads this weekend at Del Mar with impressive maiden victories for trainer Bob Baffert. Already the trainer of top Triple Crown prospects Muth  and Prince of Monaco , the conditioner unleashed yet another pair of potential superstars with Coach Prime  and Pilot Commander .

Coach Prime was up to bat first.

A $1.7 million acquisition at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale, the strapping son of Quality Road   was sensational in his first start on the main track. Bumped at the break, he settled three deep down the backstretch under jockey Flavien Prat and then burst through willingly between horses at the top of the lane. Prat set the bay into cruise control for the rest of the journey home and he coasted under the wire 7 1/4 lengths in front of his nearest rival.

It's prime time! The $1.7 million @keenelandsales yearling #9 COACH PRIME ($4.80) rolled home under a confident Flavien Prat to win his second career start--and first dirt try--in the 4th at @DelMarRacing.

The 2yo by @LanesEndFarms's Quality Road is owned by @ZedanRacing. pic.twitter.com/Sqwp79gHg0

— TVG (@TVG) November 10, 2023

Racing for the colors of Zedan Racing Stables, Coach Prime stopped the timer in 1:37.18 for the mile.

The Nov. 10 maiden special weight was the second outing for Coach Prime, who had previously finished third on the turf in his debut a month earlier at Santa Anita Park. Coach Prime's half brother, the Kitten's Joy 3-year-old Dr Oseran , was stakes-placed twice sprinting on the turf at Gulfstream Park earlier this year.

Coach Prime, a son of the Street Sense   mare Act Now, hails from the rich female family of Claiborne blue hen mare Narrate through her daughter Yarn. Accomplished runners from her line could be listed by the dozen, but among the star-studded family members are Fed Biz  , Tale of the Cat, Johannesburg, and Pulpit. Act Now, in foal to Quality Road's best son City of Light  , topped the sixth session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 13, bringing $610,000 from Avenue Bloodstock.

A day later, Pilot Commander took his swing at maiden special weight company in his six-furlong main track debut.

In a homerun performance, the son of Justify   charged to the front and never looked back on his way to a 2 1/4-length victory. Pressured early through a half-mile in :45.83, the imposing chestnut shook off his challenger turning into the stretch and drew clear in a final time of 1:09.82.

Pilot Commander was a $700,000 purchase for owner CSLR Racing Partners after zipping an eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 at the under tack show of the Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. His dam, Rebuke (Carson City) has beget six winners from 10 other foals to race, including the graded stakes-placed filly Freedom Flyer .

With the dazzling success Justify had in the Breeders' Cup with his progeny, siring the winners of both the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1, Just F Y I ) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T, Hard to Justify ), the 2018 Triple Crown hero could be due for a grade 1-winning colt on the dirt come 2024.