General Challenge, the 2000 Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) winner, had his first workout Friday morning at Santa Anita since returning to Bob Baffert's barn 16 days ago, breezing three furlongs under Dana Barnes in :35.20."He looked good, didn't he?" Baffert said of the 7-year-old gelded son of General Meeting, who completed his first official work in 19 months. "He looked awesome. He just loped around there. Actually, something (another horse) broke off like two lengths in front of him and he just loped by it by it with ease. I don't know who in the hell it was."General Challenge, who won the 1999 Pacific Classic (gr. I) for Golden Eagle Farm as a 3-year-old, has not raced since finishing fourth behind Skimming in the 2000 Pacific Classic. Preparing for the Bel Air Handicap on July 7, 2000, General Challenge suffered an undisclosed leg injury while training and was sidelined shortly thereafter. He attempted a comeback briefly last year, but it was abandoned when he sustained another injury.
Friday's workout was his first official drill since June 26, 2001, when he worked one mile at Santa Anita in 1:37 2/5.