Baffert's Potente Turns Heads with Sizzling Sunday Derby Work
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert’s presence at Kentucky Derby 152 became impossible to ignore Sunday morning when Potente blazed through five furlongs in :57.77 at Churchill Downs, potentially transforming the 20-1 morning-line shot into a serious player for Saturday’s Run for the Roses.
The eye-catching move came during the 7:15-7:30 a.m. window reserved for Derby and Oaks horses. With Martin Garcia aboard, Potente tracked maiden Embry Show (fifth on debut) through fractions of :11.92, :23.68, and :34.73, according to Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch. The Into Mischief colt closed his final quarter in :23.04 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:10.71.
“I didn’t think he was going that fast, I look down [at his stopwatch] and go ‘Oh, he was going a little fast,’ but he had a hold of him the whole way,” Baffert observed.
The Hall of Fame trainer’s concerns evaporated upon seeing his charge’s post-work demeanor. “It looks like it took nothing out of him, so that’s the important thing. You don’t really want to see them work that fast, but I’ve had horses work that fast and run really well.”
Two and a half hours later, Potente stood at the front of his stall enthusiastically attacking his hay rack. “He’s bright,” Baffert noted. “If he was in a corner with his head down, I’d be a little bit worried.”
The $2.4 million auction purchase brings just three starts to the Derby, winning his January 31 maiden debut at six furlongs before capturing the Grade 2 San Felipe by a head. His lone defeat came when second to So Happy in the Santa Anita Derby, a race where Baffert felt the pace scenario worked against his colt.
“It was a good tough race for him, he needed that,” Baffert reflected. “Lightly raced horse, it’s good to get a tough one into him.”
Baffert, who also saddles Litmus Test in the Derby, owns six official Derby victories after Medina Spirit’s 2021 win was vacated due to a medication violation. Asked about pursuing a record seventh triumph, Baffert demurred: “I don’t think about it like that. You just want to get here with a good horse.”
Mixed Reviews for Other Workers
Jeff Mullins expressed displeasure watching Intrepido’s :44.76 half-mile under Hector Berrios from California, where the trainer is recovering from a broken leg.
“I wasn’t very happy about it,” Mullins stated. “It’s not a good sign ever for my horse. He did not need to work that fast this close to the race over a new surface.”
Conversely, Incredibolt thrived on familiar ground, breezing a half-mile in :46.87 with Jaime Torres. Working alongside unraced Wan Dale, Incredibolt split quarters of :23.72 and :23.15, galloping out five furlongs in :59.75.
“He felt amazing,” Torres reported. “I felt we were going pretty fast in the beginning, but he was doing it very easy. By the eighth pole, Riley told me if you have more horse just let him cruise. I didn’t have to do anything, I just let him do his thing and he did it very easy.”
Riley Mott praised the work, Incredibolt’s first at Churchill after wintering at Palm Meadows. The colt went 2-for-2 at Churchill last fall, including a Street Sense Stakes victory.
“The horse trained really well down in Florida, he gets over that Palm Meadows surface extremely well and works well over it,” Mott explained. “Albus would have stayed down there too if he hadn’t gone to the Wood Memorial.”
Albus, Mott’s second Derby starter and Wood Memorial winner, completed a half-mile in :49.18 with a :23.98 closing quarter. “I think it was pretty standard,” Mott assessed. “He’s into it, he’s sort of got a grinder mentality to him so I thought it was pretty good.”
Chief Wallabee Shows Eagerness
Bill Mott’s Chief Wallabee displayed abundant energy in his final Derby preparation, working a half-mile in :49.83 under Junior Alvarado’s firm hold, galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.43 alongside Wood Memorial also-ran Steel.
“We just wanted to do maintenance work today, we didn’t want to do too much,” Alvarado explained. “He definitely wanted to do way more than what he did. I had my hands full of horse the whole way around. Maybe just on the gallop out I let him stretch his legs a little bit more without really letting him get away from me. I like that energy though.”
Doug O’Neill’s Derby duo worked from the gate in separate sets. Sunland Park Derby winner Pavlovian breezed an easy half-mile in :51.01, while Robusta, who finished a head behind Potente in the San Felipe before running seventh in the Santa Anita Derby, went five furlongs in 1:03.60.
Robusta sits third on the also-eligible list, requiring three defections by Friday’s 9 a.m. deadline to make the field.
