Champion Game Winner Back for Santa Anita Derby

A week after Gary and Mary West won a key Road to the Kentucky Derby race in the East with a former claiming horse, the owners will cheer a horse at the other end of the Derby-path spectrum in champion Game Winner in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (G1) April 6 at Santa Anita Park.

The Wests claimed victory in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) March 30 at Gulfstream Park with Maximum Security, who drew off to a 3 1/2-length score in that key Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) prep three starts after winning a Dec. 20 maiden-claiming debut where he was offered for $16,000.

As the Wests have welcomed that emerging star in the East, much of their focus for this year's classics has been on Game Winner, who claimed the 2-year-old male Eclipse Award following three grade 1 wins last year, including a 2 1/4-length score in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) for trainer Bob Baffert.

Though Game Winner suffered the first loss of his career in his most recent start, falling by a nose to Omaha Beach in a division of the Rebel Stakes (G2) March 16 at Oaklawn Park, there's plenty of reason to believe the son of Candy Ride  can build on that effort in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby. The 1 1/16-mile Rebel was Game Winner's first start in more than four months, and the Rebel start was an adjustment on the fly after the March 9 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita was canceled over equine safety concerns.

Baffert said Game Winner's Rebel, where he rallied from sixth early, was a "gallant run," and he's looking forward to Saturday.

"Well, I think the thing about him (is) he's tough, he's gritty. He showed that in his last race," Baffert said. "He had every chance when he was behind there to not finish like he did. He tries hard. And he gives it his all. He shows up every time, and that's all you can ask for in a horse—just shows up. He's going to try hard. And that's what you need. Coming to the Derby, you want a horse that's resilient."

Baffert noted the three-week turnaround from the Rebel to the Santa Anita Derby could be tough for Game Winner, but the five-time Derby-winning trainer likes the four-week break that will follow ahead of the Louisville, Ky., classic.

"If he just ran the same race (Saturday), I would be fine with it because the next one, definitely, we really want him to take the big step," Baffert said. "Just the same type of race will be fine with me."

Among the five rivals expected to face Game Winner in the Santa Anita Derby is stablemate Roadster, who finished third to Game Winner in last year's Del Mar Futurity (G1). The Speedway Stable runner will make his second start of the season after carrying regular rider Mike Smith to a 2 1/2-length victory in an optional-claiming allowance race March 1 at Santa Anita. 

Baffert and Smith teamed to sweep last year's Triple Crown races with Justify . The Hall of Fame trainer said he's seen brilliance from Roadster, a son of Quality Road , from the start and loved his most recent effort.

"His comeback race was just off the chart, I was so happy with it," Baffert said. "Mike Smith is really happy with him. And he's come into this race really well. He's been working well. He looks healthy. He's fresh. … I expect him to run a big race."

After Game Winner, the only other graded stakes winner in the field is Instagrand, who rolled to victory in last year's Best Pal Stakes (G2) at Del Mar. Instagrand did not race again for nearly seven months, returning for Larry Best's OXO Equine with a third-place finish in the Gotham Stakes (G3) March 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

A $1.2 million purchase in 2018 at The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected sale of 2-year-olds in training, Instagrand is trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, who also will send out More Ice, who has stakes placings on turf and all-weather surfaces.

Rounding out the field is Hronis Racing's Nolo Contesto, who has flashed talent and most recently finished second to Roadster in the March 1 optional-claiming allowance race, and grade 2-placed Synthesis, who boasts the most experience in the field with nine starts.

With national attention on Santa Anita Saturday, Baffert sees an opportunity. He noted that so many workers are counting on racing in Southern California moving forward.

"These horses, they're not our livelihood, they are our way of life.  And there's lot of people back here that are employees and we have to make this work because—I worry about the families," Baffert said. "I have a lot of employees, I worry about their families, everything else, they're worrying. … This last month has been, I would say, a little stressful."

"I'm looking forward to (Saturday). I think it's going to be a big day. We got great racing, it's going to be a great card, and it's good to see everybody back working. Because my concern about what's been going on out here is the employees—there's tens of thousands of people that work in the racing industry here in California."

Entries: Santa Anita Derby (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, April 06, 2019, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $1,000,000
• 3 yo
• 4:14 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Roadster (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	Bob Baffert	5/2
2	2More Ice (FL)	Geovanni Franco	124	Jerry Hollendorfer	30/1
3	3Nolo Contesto (KY)	Joseph Talamo	124	John W. Sadler	6/1
4	4Synthesis (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	124	George Papaprodromou	30/1
5	5Instagrand (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	Jerry Hollendorfer	3/1
6	6Game Winner (KY)	Joel Rosario	124	Bob Baffert	4/5