ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has another promising 3-year-old colt in his barn.
Potente led all the way in winning a $70,000 maiden race by three-quarters of a length in his first career start at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Potente was bought for $2.4 million by Speedway Stable at Saratoga in August 2024. He was the second-most expensive horse purchased at the yearling sale.
Ridden by Kazushi Kimura, Potente ran six furlongs in 1:10.65 and paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite.
“His class showed up. Now he’s ready,” Baffert said. “He’s a beautiful horse.”
Captain Shreve was second. Deep Tracks, a $1 million auction buy, was third.
Baffert has two colts among the top 20 horses on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard that decides the starting field for the Kentucky Derby in May. Litmus Test is third and Brant is 16th.
The field was reduced to five after Crude Velocity and Duntov, both trained by Baffert, as well as Ruler of Law were scratched by order of the veterinarians.
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing