GI Kentucky Derby third Baeza (McKinzie) arrived at Saratoga Race Course Thursday evening to prepare for his upcoming start in next weekend's GI Belmont Stakes.
Trained by John Shirreffs, the half-brother to both Dornoch (Good Magic) and Mage (Good Magic) arrived at 8:45 p.m. from California along with the Doug O'Neill-trained Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief), who will likely enter the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap.
“He looks pretty bright coming off the van,” said Shirreffs on Thursday evening.
Of the colt's Derby effort, Shirreffs added: “I thought he ran really well. If you were to run it another time and with a little bit better luck… if he gets an opening a little sooner and gets to make his move a little earlier, it could have been a whole different story.”
Shirreffs said the Belmont Stakes should be an enticing spectacle for racing fans with potentially the top three finishes from the Derby set to run.
“I've watched Journalism all winter and we raced against him in the Santa Anita Derby–he's a very nice horse,” he said. “I hadn't seen Sovereignty until I saw him in the paddock, and he was a very impressive physical presence there. So, I think that's three really nice horses.”
BAEZA has arrived in Saratoga! ✈️
The half-brother to @KentuckyDerby winner MAGE and 2024 Belmont Stakes winner DORNOCH is here ahead of this year's Belmont Stakes, presented by @NYRABets! pic.twitter.com/3pYLFTR4a3— Belmont Stakes (@BelmontStakes) May 30, 2025
Shirreffs indicated that following a walk day Friday, Baeza would return to regular training and also visit the paddock to get better acquainted with the Spa.
“We'll give him a chance to see everything, get a feeling for where he is and find his way to the track to develop a little security for him for him to know where he is at,” Shirreffs said.
Already on the work tab in New York Friday was MGISW 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) who turned in his final breeze ahead of the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap when working in company with Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso), going a half-mile in :49.74 before galloping out in 1:02 3/5 (10/45).
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said the work was what he was hoping to see from the 2023 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.
“I thought it was great,” he said. He's a very impressive horse to watch breeze and it seems like he does everything so effortless. He shipped in, and everything has gone according to plan. We got in three breezes and we're just trying to keep him in as good of shape as he was going into the Alysheba.”
Work of the Day from #Saratoga—Fierceness (Outside) and Tuscan Sky worked 4 Furlongs in 49.74 on May 30th, 2025, for trainer @PletcherRacing. pic.twitter.com/mz8pRA50Kf
— 1/ST TV (@Watch1ST) May 30, 2025
One horse Fierceness is doubtful to face in the Met Mile is his stablemate Mindframe (Constitution), who joined his stablemate on track Friday but is most likely heading to the GI Stephen Foster on June 28 at Churchill for owners St. Elias Stable and Repole Stable.
“I thought it was very good also,” Pletcher said of Mindframe's work. “I'll get with Mike [Repole] and St. Elias and we'll make a final decision, but we're probably leaning towards the Stephen Foster. He's a really fun horse to train.”
Pletcher also added that Bobby Flay and James Ventura's Sir Barton-winner Crudo (Justify) is “not completely ruled out” of the GI Belmont Stakes pending a Saturday work.
The Chad Brown barn sent out both Raging Sea (Curlin) and Randomized (Nyquist) for a half-mile breeze Friday over the Oklahoma dirt training track to prepare for next Friday's GI Ogden Phipps. The pair worked in company, with Randomized to the inside of Raging Sea, covering the half-mile in :49.66 (7/45).
“They went great in their work and are on schedule,” said Brown. “They are doing super. They've been training good and looked good.”
In California, Rodriguez (Authentic), also a candidate for the Belmont Stakes, plus stablemates Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) and Richi (Chi) (Practical Joke) were all on the work tab Friday.
Rodriguez worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 (5/31) while Citizen Bull also went five furlongs in 1:00.40 (5/31). Richi, winner of the GII Santa Maria last out, worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 (1/1).
Work of the Day from @santaanitapark—Rodriguez worked 5 Furlongs in 1:00.40 on May 30th, 2025, for trainer Bob Baffert. @BelmontStakes pic.twitter.com/w23N0g4vsQ
— 1/ST TV (@Watch1ST) May 30, 2025
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