Baffle Stakes
6 1/2 furlongs Dirt Stake Purse $100.000 Three-Year-Olds. At SA

1st      Gaelic Commander         High Voltage      *3-2 (HRP) *2-1 (SRF)

Gaelic Commander looked more like his old self than his old self as he made his seasonal debut nearly four months after his impressive win in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint. The last time he ran six-and-a-half-furlongs was in the $1,000.000 KD Juvenile Sprint where he dropped back to tenth and rallied too late to be second beaten a half-length. Looks like he learned from that experience because today he got no farther back than fifth only two lengths back and had the lead by the time they entered the stretch, from there it was a leisurely stroll down the stretch to a handy one-length win.

2nd      Newtown Anner             Mo Mentum Farm          8-1 (HRP) 20-1 (SRF)

With only three races for Newtown Anner and only one on turf, I wasn’t expecting this big of a run from him, but man he was impressive. He battled for the lead from the start taking over around the far turn only to be caught by the eventual winner, but he managed to hold the closing challenge of Ideal Candidate to be second.

3rd     Ideal Candidate           Aer Stables                 9-2 (HRP) 3-1 (SRF)

Ideal Candidate repeated his closing run from the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint and finished the same distance behind Gaelic Commander as he did in that race. It’s a thing. He took the same amount of time off between races, so he has a right to improve. We’ll have to watch both of them and see how they come out of this race and watch which direction in which they go.

4th      Fear Lugo                 Williams9                4-1 (HRP) 6-1 (SRF)

Fear Lugo also came from the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint as his last start and, although he finished eleventh in that race, he finished the same two-lengths back here as he did there, so this race looked very much like a carbon copy of the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint, and it is for the future to see how these lads develop.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded