Baffert primed for huge Breeders’ Cup with 8 pre-entered

With 12 Breeders’ Cup winners already on his resume, Bob Baffert has eight chances to add to his total on Nov. 4-5 with his eight horses pre-entered in six different races for this year’s event at Santa Anita Park.

Topping the Hall of Famer’s slate are a pair of runners in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Nov. 5. Arrogate, owned by Juddmonte Farm, was simply brilliant in his 13 1/2-length win in the Travers S. (G1), his first stakes start. Contrasting the precocious 3-year-old is the experience of Hoppertunity, who won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) in his most recent start. The 5-year-old, owned by Pegram, Watson and Weitman, has earned more than $3.5 million.

Baffert has a formidable pair in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) as well. Spendthrift Farm’s Lord Nelson has won three straight Grade 1 events on the southern California circuit, while Drefong has won four straight, and like Arrogate, won his first attempt at a Grade 1 with a 3 ¼ length win in the King’s Bishop S. in late August.

Baffert opted for the Dirt Mile (G1) for Dortmund, who has battled the likes of American Pharoah and California Chrome, Dortmund is a multiple Grade 1 winner of nearly $2 million for Kaleem Shah.

Klimt, winner of both the Best Pal S. (G2) and Del Mar Futurity (G1) this summer, is Baffert’s lone entry in the Juvenile (G1), a race he has won three times. 

Baffert’s other 2-year-old entrant is Noted and Quoted in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). The Speedway Stable-owned filly earned her way into the race with a game win in the Chandelier S. (G1) over the same Santa Anita oval.

Official post positions for the Breeders’ Cup will be drawn on Oct. 31.