Baffert Taking His Time With West Coast & Collected

West Coast | Equi-Photo

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Bob Baffert was pleased with how West Coast (Flatter) (second) and Collected (City Zip) (seventh) exited last Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., but will take his time in deciding future plans for both horses.

West Coast was named 2017's champion 3-year-old male on the back of wins in the GI Travers S. and GI Pennsylvania Derby Thursday night. On Saturday, the bay proved he would be a force to be reckoned with as a 4-year-old as well when gamely chasing home Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Pegasus. He finished 2 1/2 lengths behind that dual Eclipse winner in second, but was 10 3/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Gunnevera (Dialed In).

“He really showed up,” Baffert said. “He has just been a very consistent horse and keeps getting better. He came out of the race very well. He is back here at Santa Anita and goes back to the track tomorrow. He is a little tired from the shipping, but he looks good.”

Last year, Baffert sent his inaugural Pegasus winner and champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) on to Dubai following his romp in Hallandale.

When asked if West Coast would follow the same route, the Hall of Famer said, “We don't know yet. We are going to wait. We haven't sat down and mapped out anything for him yet. I just wanted to get him back here and give him a couple of weeks. I'll go light on him and see how he is. We will know in a couple of weeks which way we are leaning towards.”

Baffert was also represented by GI Pacific Classic hero and GI Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Collected in the Pegasus. The chestnut faded to seventh after setting the early pace.

Collected came out really well,” the conditioner said. “We sent him to a farm in Ocala. We will kick him out for 30 days and let him be a horse. I don't have things planned for him yet, but we were thinking of trying him once on turf. We always thought he would be a great turf miler. That was the plan at Del Mar to run him on the turf there, but he worked so well over the Del Mar [main track], so we decided to try him in the big race there [the Pacific Classic].”

 

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