Mr Fisk put away heavy favorite Judge Miller in upper stretch on his way to victory in the $100,000 Californian S. (G3) Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita Park.

The 4-year-old colt, owned by Sunny Brook Stables LLC, now has three stakes wins, two of them graded races, and is 4-2-0 in 10 starts, with earnings of $249,700.

Facing just three foes in the 1 1/8-mile Californian, Mr Fisk was at the back of the pack for five furlongs, with Judge Miller setting a relaxed pace. Mr Fisk made his move for the lead with three furlongs to run, coming three-wide on the turn to confront the pacesetter. Judge Miller matched strides briefly, but was no match for the winner, who drew away late to score by 2 ¼-lengths.

“He is getting better,” Bob Baffert said. “I have a great team and we’ve been schooling him, he’s tough. He can be really tough and aggressive, but I think we just freshened him up. The owners, they let me freshen him up and get him right for this race. We are looking at down the road at the (G2 Hollywood) Gold Cup, at a mile and a quarter (May 27). Being by Arrogate he is bred for (it).”

Baffert now has won the Californian five times, most recently last yar with Defunded.