Cupid (Tapit) exited his win in Saturday's GII Rebel S. in fine order and will most likely make his next start in the Apr. 16 GI Arkansas Derby, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Sunday.
“He came back well from his race and he's doing well today,” Baffert said. “We're hoping to come back with him for the Arkansas Derby.”
Making his stakes debut in the Rebel, Cupid overcame a slow break and then dipped in toward the rail when straightening for home.
“There were people on the outside rail and it's a sharp turn,” Baffert said of the incident at the top of the stretch. “I think it was a combination of both that caused him to duck in. [American] Pharoah did it last year, Victor [Espinoza] told me, because the crowd's right there, and the turn is narrow. Fans are yelling and they're lined up all the way to the end. Cupid just saw them for a few seconds, but he was so quick on his feet he got right back on track. It was a strong performance, and he galloped out strong, too.”
Also likely for the Arkansas Derby is Rebel runner-up Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect). Whitmore, ninth after a half-mile in the Rebel, nearly drew abreast of Cupid approaching the sixteenth pole, but pacesetter inched away late.
“I actually thought the field was the horse to beat,” trainer Ron Moquett said with a laugh. “When you're talking 14 horses, instead of being five wide and three back, now you're seven wide and five back. People don't understand that it takes a lot of energy for a horse that runs from off the pace to get to the same position that had nobody pressing him on the lead.”
Other Rebel runners expected to now aim for the Arkansas Derby include Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft), fifth as the 5-2 favorite after breaking from post 14; and seventh-place finisher Discreetness (Discreet Cat).
Trainer Dale Romans was far from disappointed in the fourth-place effort of Cherry Wine (Paddy o'Prado) in Saturday's Rebel, but has not picked out a next start for the 'TDN Rising Star.'
“Cherry Wine ran a very, very sneaky good race,” Romans said. “He split horses, did a lot of things you've got to do to be a Derby horse. And he never got clear sailing. He ran nice and picked up some points. He could go in the [Apr. 9 GI] Wood or the [Apr. 9 GI] Blue Grass. ”
Romans, whose Brody's Cause (Giant's Causeway) is likely for the Blue Grass, could be represented in the Arkansas Derby by Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled's Song). Owned, like Brody's Cause, by the Albaugh Family Stables, the colt was second against older horses in a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Oaklawn Saturday.
“Unbridled Outlaw, I ran him three and up just to get a race in him,” Romans said. “I thought off the layoff and the fact that he was still drawing off from everybody else, was very encouraging. He ran well. He just needed the race. He had to do all the work, and he was a little fresh off the layoff, but that's why I wanted to get this race. He's a very talented horse. He might be the most pure talent that I have in the barn. But we've always thought that.”
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