Abel Tasman Too Strong in Acorn

The distance and track changed. The strategy and end result did not.

Abel Tasman, who used her turn of foot to uncork a last-to-first rally in the May 5 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, executed that plan to perfection once more when she shot up the rail and withstood an attempted challenge from graded stakes winner Salty in the lane to capture the $700,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) by a length at Belmont Park June 10. 

It has become old hat to see Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and Mike Smith team up to wreak havoc in grade 1 tests across the globe. In earning her third career top-level victory—her second such score for her current connections—Abel Tasman is making her dramatic surges to the front routine as well.

After breaking at the rear of the seven-horse field, Abel Tasman was content to remain in that spot five-wide down the backstretch while Florida Fabulous cut opening fractions of :23.32 and :46.79 with Nikki My Darling and Benner Island tracking just off the lead. Where the bay filly made her winning-run on the far outside beneath the Twin Spires last month, she and Smith opted to scrape the paint during the one-mile Acorn as she split rivals nearing the three-eighths mark before deftly surging up inside of a tiring Florida Fabulous to take command at the head of the stretch.

"I was a little bit concerned in the first eighth of a mile because she's so off the bridle," Smith said. "But the scary thing about her is if you work too hard to get her on it, then it's from almost one extreme to the next. I was trying not to do that because of the big turns.

"I stayed behind and tipped out outside of (Salty) so (jockey Joel Rosario) couldn't really see me and when he looked back, I ducked to the inside. It worked. If it didn't work I'd have been an idiot."

Salty tried to make a race out of it in the stretch when she loomed on the far outside, but the Mark Casse trainee couldn't cut into the margin Abel Tasman was stubbornly holding strong to. 

"I was wanting her to have a target. Then all of the sudden it went 'boom'. It was too big of a target," Casse said of Salty.

Abel Tasman hit the wire in 1:35.37 over a fast track for the eight-furlong test, her third outing since being transferred to Baffert's barn from previous trainer Simon Callaghan following her runner-up effort behind Unique Bella in the March 4 Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3). 

"With this filly here, she's just getting really good and she showed that the Oaks was not a fluke," said Baffert, who added a trip to Saratoga Race Course for the Aug. 19 Alabama Stakes (G1) is on the table for the filly. "She's that good a horse. It was pretty exciting. The quality she has, I just see it in the mornings. She's just getting better and better."

Benner Island was 4 1/2 lengths back of Salty in third with Sweet Loretta, Union Strike, Nikki My Darling, and Florida Fabulous completing the order of finish. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, Abel Tasman paid out $6.30, $3.40, and $2.60 across the board.

Owned by China Horse Club and breeder Clearsky Farms, Abel Tasman has won five of eight starts, including her score in the Starlet Stakes (G1) last December, and has earnings of $1,287,060. She is out of the Deputy Minister mare Vargas Girl.