Baffert contenders slide; Maxfield stays atop

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview —-

In little more than a week, trainer Bob Baffert went from the top of the 3-year-old world to wondering if a maiden winner is his next Kentucky Derby superstar.

Baffert lost both Nadal and Charlatan to injuries and his undefeated Authentic is no more after running second in the Santa Anita Derby on June 6. The one bright spot for Baffert was the debut of Cezanne, the highly touted $3.7 million purchase at the February 2019 Ocala sale. The son of Curlin easily handled his competition and looks to have a future.

Honor A.P., the winner of the Santa Anita Derby, lived up to expectations and cruised by the rest of the field under jockey Mike Smith to win the mile-and-an-eighth race in 1:48.97.

With what has transpired during the past week, there is a major shakeup in my rankings.

Maxfield (Street Sense) 60 points – came off a long layoff to win the Matt Winn and may run in the Belmont Stakes on June 20.

Honor A.P. (Honor Code) 120 points – won the Santa Anita Derby and easily could be on top.

Tiz the Law (Constitution) 122 points – won Florida Derby and also may run in the Belmont.

Authentic (Into Mischief) 100 points – second in the Santa Anita Derby. He didn’t get to the lead and that may have been his problem.

King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) 90 points – second behind Nadal in Arkansas Derby. He may be a Belmont horse.

Wells Bayou (Lookin at Lucky) 104 points – won Louisiana Derby.

Ete Indien (Summer Front) 74 points – third in Florida Derby. He’s another Belmont possible.

Basin (Liam’s Map) 50 points – second behind Charlatan in Arkansas Derby.

Shivaree (Awesome of Course) 40 points – second in Florida Derby. He could be another for Belmont.

Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) 25 points – won Robert Lewis, but hasn’t run in a long time.

Cezanne (Curlin) no points – broke his maiden on June 6 at Santa Anita and needs a point’s race.

Cover Photo: Maxfield; Churchill Downs Photo