Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Baffert Has a Feeling Barnes is Ready to Roll

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When the horse who became known as Barnes (Into Mischief) came into the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a couple years ago, there was hype.

That happens when the price tag he brought at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale read $3.2 million. And to make things even more interesting, the horse was named for Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's long-time assistant.

“Oh, that pressure is gone,” Baffert said with a laugh by phone from his summer base at Del Mar.

Big things were expected from Barnes, who has a so-so record of two wins and a second in four career starts.

Barnes will come to the races next Saturday when he makes his first appearance since a disappointing fifth (and last) finish in the GI Santa Anita Derby on April 5. The top two finishers in that race were Journalism (Curlin) and Baeza (McKinzie).

Barnes is one of three–maybe four–3-year-olds that Baffert is hoping to run in the $500,000 GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes on Travers Day.

In his first start this year, Barnes sizzled, winning the seven-furlong GII San Vicente Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths. In his last two races, he was beaten by Journalism, first in the GII San Felipe and then in the flop in the Santa Anita Derby, where he was defeated by 19 3/4 lengths.

Barnes is owned by Zedan Racing Stable.

“When we stretched him out, he just lost his form, lost some weight,” Baffert said. “I have him back to where he was now, and he is training extremely well. He is a really good horse, and he is ready for something like this.”

Barnes worked four furlongs in :48 (118/93) at Del Mar on Friday.

Baffert is also planning on running Madaket Road (Quality Road), owned by SF Racing, Madaket Stablew LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan and 'TDN Rising Star' Midland Money (Shancelot), owned by Edward Childs.

Madaket Road worked six furlongs in 1:11.40 (1/4) at Del Mar on Monday. Midland Money, who won a six-furlong allowance at Saratoga on Aug. 3, worked four furlongs in :48.83 (6/12) here on Tuesday.

The other Baffert horse under consideration for the Jerkens–Gaming (Game Winner), owned by Michael Pegram Karl Watson and Paul Weitman–worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 (21/45) at Del Mar on Friday.

Looks Like Bracket Buster Will Head to Saratoga for Travers

The field for next Saturday's $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes is not going to be a big one–the looming presence of Godolphin's Sovereignty (Into Mischief) will ensure that.

With entries scheduled to be taken for the Midsummer Derby on Sunday, it appears that only four others will take on the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and GII Jim Dandy Stakes winner.

Bracket Buster | Taylor Ejdys/Equi-Photo

One of those challengers will likely be Bracket Buster (Vekoma), who was last seen finishing fourth in the GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 19.

Owned by BBN Racing LLC, Bracket Buster is trained by Vicki Oliver. Bracket Buster worked four furlongs in :47.80 (9/32) at Keeneland on Friday. Oliver said she has also looked at the seven-furlong $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town on Aug. 22.

She said she could cross-enter in both races. Oliver said she would likely head to Charles Town if the Travers somehow drew a field of nine, which is highly unlikely.

“(The New York Racing Association) would like me to come to fill their field out,” Oliver said by phone from her Keeneland base Friday. “They would want us, and I don't blame them. If (Sovereignty) shows up, none of us can beat him, we all know that. I'm not scared. This is racing.”

Bracket Buster finished eight lengths behind Journalism (Curlin) in the Haskell. Gosger (Nyquist) and Goal Oriented (Not This Time) also finished in front of him.

“He did not have the greatest trip in the Haskell,” Oliver said. “He fought on hard to be fourth and the horses that beat him are three of the top 3-year-old horses in the country.”

Bracket Buster has started four times this year and has one win (Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth on June 14) and a second. If he comes to the Travers, Oliver said he would ship on Tuesday.

“Things can happen in a horse race, horses can stumble at the break,” Oliver said. “My horse could stumble, Sovereignty could stumble. You can't win it unless you're in it. There is no shame in running second or third in the Travers.”

Other horses expected to enter the Midsummer Derby are Magnitude (Not This Time), owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, Klaravich Stables' 'TDN Rising Star' Strategic Focus (Gun Runner) and McAfee (Cloud Computing), owned by Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables LLC, Judy Hicks and Scott Rice.

Longshot Honorable Miss Champ Back for More

It was a sloppy track at Saratoga nearly four weeks ago. On Sunday, July 20, 4-year-old filly Halina's Forte (Mitole) opened some eyeballs when she won the GII Honorable Miss at the juicy odds of 24-1.

Trainer Phil Bauer is bringing her back for the $500,000 GI Ballerina Stakes on Travers Day. He'll see if the Honorable Miss was a fluke for the Rigney Racing LLC runner. He is thinking it will not be.

“You have to give her credit,” Bauer said outside his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. “She moved forward as a 4-year-old. Can she take another step forward? She is going to have to if she wants to win this heat.”

Halina's Forte | Sarah Andrew

In the Honorable Miss, maybe Halina's Forte had everything going for her. It was her third time on an off track, and it produced her second win.

“She ran a monster race, regardless, and beat a lot of the ones that are coming to run back in this one,” Bauer said.

Even though Halina's Forte had leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. on her back in the Honorable Miss, she went off as the second-longest price in the eight-horse field.

Part of the reason for that was her first race of the season. Halina's Forte began the year with a second-place finish in the Prairie Rose Stakes at Prairie Meadows on June 6. She was 4-5 in that one.

“You go to Prairie Meadows, you are supposed to win,” Bauer said. “I think that is what people were looking at and I think they were keying on other horses in there (Honorable Miss).”

Since that win, Bauer said Halina's Forte has done well at Saratoga, a place where she is two-for-two in her career. Overall, she has six wins, three seconds and two thirds in 14 starts.

Bauer said that Joel Rosario will ride Halina's Forte in the Ballerina.

If Halina's Forte is able to win the Ballerina, it would be the second career Grade I win for Bauer, who won the 2023 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs with Played Hard (Into Mischief).