{"id":463930,"date":"2025-09-30T20:07:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/463930\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T20:07:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:07:24","slug":"2025-american-pharoah-stakes-at-a-glance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/463930\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 American Pharoah Stakes at a Glance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday\u2019s American Pharoah Stakes Presented by DK Horse<\/strong><\/a> for 2-year-olds is the final California qualifier for the FanDuel Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance<\/a> and the Golden State\u2019s first prep race awarding points to next year\u2019s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (10-5-3-2-1 to the top five).<\/p>\n

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert<\/a> owns the most wins in this race with 13 and has taken six of the last seven editions. Furthermore, the race is named after one of Baffert\u2019s all-time best runners<\/a>, who won what was then called the FrontRunner Stakes by 3 \u00bc lengths in 2014, missed the BC Juvenile due to injury, and then swept the Triple Crown and won the 2015 Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic as a 3-year-old.<\/p>\n

It’s no surprise that Baffert trains four of the six entrants in Saturday\u2019s renewal at Santa Anita Park<\/a>, none of which are his leading juvenile prospect, Del Mar Futurity<\/a> winner Brant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Desert Gate<\/a>:<\/strong> Won his first two starts by open lengths, including an 8 \u00be-length blowout in the six-furlong Best Pal Stakes<\/a> at Del Mar<\/a>. Then, despite a troubled trip, he finished a solid second in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity behind stablemate Brant. Should sit just behind the front-runners to set up his stretch rally.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY:<\/strong> Juan Hernandez<\/a>; TRAINER:<\/strong> Bob Baffert<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Intrepido<\/a>:<\/strong> Finished a distant fourth in his debut (won by Brant) and improved considerably in start number two, taking a two-turn, one-mile maiden race at Del Mar by 3 \u00bc lengths over Plutarch. Had a solid speed figure jump from his first start to second and will need an even bigger one here to be a factor.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY:<\/strong> Hector Berrios<\/a>; TRAINER:<\/strong> Jeff Mullins<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Plutarch<\/a>:<\/strong> Philosophy majors have their pick in this colt who finished second behind Intrepido in his debut and then second again when trying grass in the one-mile Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes. Very well-bred as his dam (mother) is 2015 champion 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY:<\/strong> Kazushi Kimura<\/a>; TRAINER:<\/strong> Bob Baffert<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Civil Liberty<\/a>:<\/strong> Enters 0-for-2 having finished a distant second behind Brant in his 5 \u00bd-furlong debut (after dueling with Balboa in a hot early pace) and then third to Brant and Desert Gate in the Del Mar Futurity. He had a wide trip in the latter race and was bumped in the stretch. There\u2019s upside aplenty, although this is tough a spot to secure that first win.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY:<\/strong> Antonio Fresu; TRAINER:<\/strong> Doug O\u2019Neill<\/p>\n

5. Balboa<\/a>:<\/strong> Third behind Brant and Civil Liberty in his premiere, Balboa next came back at 6 \u00bd furlongs in mid-August at Del Mar and romped by 7 \u00be lengths. He then weakened to finish fifth of six in the Del Mar Futurity and will have blinkers removed for this race.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY:<\/strong> Umberto Rispoli<\/a>; TRAINER:<\/strong> Bob Baffert<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Kristofferson<\/a>:<\/strong> Ownership group known as The Avengers celebrated a win \u201cFor the Good Times\u201d with this debut runner honoring the late songwriting legend at the end of August. Kristofferson overcame a rough start and pace pressure to prevail by three-quarters of a length in that six-furlong sprint with a fast time. Sold for $1.15 million as a yearling, so expectations are high. Baffert\u2019s first-call rider Juan Hernandez sticks with Desert Gate, though.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY:<\/strong> Mike Smith<\/a>; TRAINER:<\/strong> Bob Baffert<\/a><\/p>\n

THE PICK:<\/strong> Desert Gate<\/a><\/p>\n

LIVE LONGSHOT:<\/strong> Plutarch<\/a><\/p>\n

TRIFECTA:<\/strong> 1-6-3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday\u2019s American Pharoah Stakes Presented by DK Horse for 2-year-olds is the final California qualifier for the FanDuel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-463930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115295056679119702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}