Baffert Extends Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Record with Hughes Victory

Trainer Bob Baffert secured his seventh victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. The win places him one victory behind Aidan O’Brien, who claimed two races on Day 1, for the most total wins in Breeders’ Cup history. Baffert’s mount, Hughes, paid 3.64 dollars, making it the shortest-priced winning ticket of the opening day of the event.

Hughes, a colt owned by a large partnership, covered one and one sixteenth miles in 1:42.27. Jockey Flavien Prat guided the horse to a finish 2 1/4 lengths ahead of American History. The race marked the culmination of a season in which Hughes had not lost in four starts across Los Alamitos, Del Mar, and Santa Anita. Those prior victories totaled 24 lengths, spanning distances from 5 furlongs to one and one sixteenth miles.

Baffert described the performance as a revelation during a trackside interview with NBC. He stated that the horse had never faced a true battle until that day. Prat, who took over the mount after Juan Hernandez rode Hughes to wins in the Del Mar Futurity and American Pharoah Stakes, noted that the colt dug deep. He characterized Hughes as a game horse that performed well under pressure.

The colt, named after New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes, is expected to be a major contender for the Kentucky Derby in May. His path to the finish was influenced when possible pacesetter He Is No Lie started awkwardly. This allowed Hughes to take the lead on the backstretch. By the time the field entered the short homestretch, only four horses remained in contention before Hughes surged away from Salahudin, Coach Pope, and American History.

Baffert’s attempt to sweep the main-track 2-year-old stakes that day did not succeed. His filly, Miss Monica, finished second in the Juvenile Fillies. Emphatic won that race for trainer Brendan Walsh, who claimed his first Breeders’ Cup victory. Walsh noted that Miss Monica was running at Emphatic, but the winner held its position when it mattered most. Emphatic paid 7.90 dollars.

Day 1 also featured a series of jockey changes and incidents. Jose Ortiz and Brian Hernandez Jr. were thrown from their mounts in separate allowance races 40 minutes before the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Ortiz was carried off on a stretcher with lower-leg pain but avoided a hospital trip. He returned to ride Coach Pope in the Juvenile. Billy Loughnane made a last-minute switch to ride Libertango in the Turf Sprint after meeting his weight requirement in the sauna just before the race.

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien won two of the three grass events. Sun Goddess won the Juvenile Fillies Turf in a mile, marking her seventh victory in nine starts. Ryan Moore, her jockey, noted that O’Brien considered the filly very special. O’Brien’s other winner, Haffner, took the Juvenile Turf. Moore indicated that the Justify colt has the stamina for longer distances at age 3. European horses placed first, second, and third in all three grass races due to a disqualification involving Harper’s Corner in the Turf Sprint.