Authentic continued his march towards Louisville and the Kentucky Derby with an authoritative victory in Saturday's $400,000 San Felipe S. (G2), winning the 1 1/16-mile affair by 2 1/4-lengths in front-running style.

The 3-year-old colt has won all three of his starts, including the Sham S. (G3) by nearly eight lengths, and has earned $331,200. Owned by a large partnership, Authentic also earned 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) challenge and now tops the list with a total of 60, which assures him of a spot in the starting gate for the May 2 Derby.

Though he bobbled at the start of the San Felipe, he quickly recovered to grab the lead. Rolling through a half-mile in a solid :46.71, he started to widen his lead on the turn and was never seriously threatened at any point as he coasted home to stop the timer in 1:43.56.

“When I saw the fractions, :22 and change, it was fast, but he was doing it so easy,” said Baffert, who won the San Felipe for a record seventh time. “The really good ones do that and I just love the way he looked down the backside. He's a special horse and this was probably one of the toughest prep races that we've seen so far. Those were really good horses in there. We hope to stay healthy and run in the [Apr. 4 GI] Santa Anita Derby (G1).” 

Baffert also unveiled another potential star Saturday at Santa Anita in the form of the 3-year-old filly Gamine, who won very easily by 6 1/4-lengths in her debut to be tagged a TDN 'Rising Star'. A $1.8 million auction buy owned by Michael Lund Petersen, Gamine, like Authentic, is by leading sire Into Mischief.