Fort Bragg at the top of his game in $200,000 St. Matthews S.

Fort Bragg kicked off Derby week at Churchill Downs for Bob Baffert with a huge effort in Thursday’s $200,000 St. Matthews S., running down pacesetter Champlin in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

Fort Bragg was away in third behind Champlin, with Fort Bragg’s stablemate Speed Boat Beach in between them. Champlin tore through fractions of :21.10 and :43.67. Turning for home, Speed Boat Beach began to weaken, with Fort Bragg coming three-wide to set sights on the leader. Fort Bragg had the momentum in the lane and took over inside the final furlong to stop the timer in a very quick 1:08.04, about a half-second off the track record.

“He has matured a lot; he has liked this track before, so I thought this was a good spot for him,” said Baffert of Fort Bragg, who was second in the 2023 Pat Day Mile (G2).

Baffert also noted that Speed Boat Beach possibly bled in what was his first race since December of 2023.

Fort Bragg also won the 2023 Dwyer S. (G3) at Belmont. The 5-year-old is owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Joan Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital & Catherine Donovan. His record now stands at 5-3-3 from 17 starts, with earnings of $596,915.