Mor Spirit, Exaggerator head field for San Felipe Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) Bob Baffert is going to find out more about Mor Spirit when he saddles the 3-year-old in the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes this weekend at Santa Anita.
The Triple Crown-winning trainer will be going for a record sixth win in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 race on Saturday. Baffert won last year with Dortmund.
Mor Spirit will be ridden by Gary Stevens, who has been aboard for all of his three victories. Mor Spirit won the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes by 1 1/2lengths on Feb. 6.
Exaggerator is among the field of six 3-year-olds competing for Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The winner earns 50. The second, third and fourth-place finishers will earn 20, 10 and five points in the system that determines the 20-horse field for the May 7 race.
Exaggerator is trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden by his brother Kent. The colt finished second to undefeated Nyquist in the San Vicente on Feb. 15. He has three wins in seven starts and the son of Curlin is versatile enough to press the pace or stalk the leaders.
Undefeated Smokey Image will run in his first graded stakes under Victor Espinoza, who rode American Pharoah to the Triple Crown last year. Smokey Image is 6-0 for trainer Carla Gaines.
The field for the San Vicente in post position order with jockeys and weights: Uncle Lino, Fernando Perez, 120 pounds; Danzing Candy, Mike Smith, 120; Mor Spirit, Stevens, 124; I Will Score, Rafael Bejarano, 120; Smokey Image, Espinoza, 120; Exaggerator, Desomeaux, 122.