No one should have been surprised Sunday if they had overheard trainer Bob Baffert humming “My Old Kentucky Home” as he walked away from Santa Anita.
After winning both of the weekend’s major prep races here for 2-year-olds, as well as Sunday’s Grade II Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, Baffert was flush with hope that his luck could extend past next month’s Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs and into the upcoming Triple Crown campaigns.
At Santa Anita, his front-running filly, Notable Career, went wire-to-wire to take the 1-mile Grade I Oak Leaf Stakes over Euro Empire and favorite Cindy’s Hero. It was jockey David Flores’ second big winner of the day.
He also piloted Mash One in the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship. The Bobby Frankel-trained 6-year-old hadn’t raced since last year’s Oak Tree meeting here, when he also won the Turf Championship.
Likewise, at Keeneland, Shane Sellers scored a big double, riding Baffert’s 2-year-old colt Arabian Light to a three-length victory in the Lane’s End and grabbing the Grade II Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup for trainer Joe Orseno aboard long shot Collect the Cash.
“Another day at the office [for Notable Career],” Baffert said after winning his fourth straight Oak Leaf. “I told David, `She’s ready to run, she’s fit, don’t worry about it … just put her on the lead and go for it.'”