Juddmonte Farms' Arrogate had the look of something special June 24 at Santa Anita Park.
The 3-year-old Unbridled's Song colt won a 1 1/16-mile allowance by 5 1/4 lengths under Rafael Bejarano and trainer Bob Baffert expressed lofty aspiration for him after the race. Video: Race 2 (AOC) at SA on 6/24/16
"We've got a lot of options with him. ... The Jim Dandy (gr. II) is there. ... The plan is to get him to the Breeders' Cup (Classic, gr. I)," Baffert said.
The $560,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was hustled from his rail post and led at every point of call to finish off the race in 1:41.14. He set fractions of :23.62, :47.17, and 1:10.72 through six furlongs and covered a mile in 1:34.85.
"He's made a lot of progress," Baffert said of the lightly raced colt. "He had some shins, so we stopped on him and the race at Los Al (a third-place finish in his debut, a maiden special weight race April 17) just didn't work out.
"Today, he didn't get rattled, in the paddock or at the gate. ... I just told Rafael, 'From the (inside post), you need to be a little aggressive.' Distance isn't an issue with this horse. When he came back right now, he wasn't blowing at all."
A 4 1/2-length maiden winner at Santa Anita going 1 1/16 miles June 5, Arrogate went off as the 3-5 favorite in a field of five 3-year-olds and up, and paid $3.20, $2.20, and $2.10 across the board.
