Explora romps in Santa Ynez S.

Explora rolled home a 5 ¼-length in Saturday’s Santa Ynez S. giving Bob Baffert his record eighth winner of Santa Anita’s traditional first race on the road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Making her first start since a second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), Explora was the prohibitive favorite of Saturday’s seven-furlong sprint. After toiling in last down the backstretch, Explora began to gain some ground while three-wide on the turn. She was within a length of the lead turning for home, then soon blew by the pacesetters under a hand ride. She coasted through the lane to finish in 1:22.05 on a fast track.

“Down the backside it looked like maybe she was not running,” said Baffert. “I think they were just going really fast. All of a sudden when (jockey Juan Hernandez) got her geared up, you could see her taking off. It’s good to see her back in form.”

Winner of last year’s Oak Leaf S. (G2) and runner-up in the Del Mar Debutante (G1), Explora is now 3-2-0 in five starts and has earned $628,000 for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paule Weitman.

As part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Explora received 10 qualifying points towards a spot in the starting gate on May 1. Explora currently tops the Oaks qualifiers list with a total of 35 points.