Mor Spirit’s Met Mile success was no fluke and it just went to show the domination that can happen when great trainers put their horses in the right spots. The runner was ideally positioned last Saturday by trainer Bob Baffert to pull off the big win and we all know that Baffert will find another potent placing for the up and coming superstar.
Sure, the big race was the Belmont Stakes last Saturday but Baffert and jockey Mike Smith pretty much stole the show. Baffert and Smith won everything that was not nailed down. By the time the fighter known as Mor Spirit pulled off his Met Mile success, it became the fourth victory on the day for Baffert and fifth triumph for Smith—all in stakes.
There really were no secrets about the Met Mile success of Mor Spirit as the race unfolded like it suggested on paper. Sharp Azteca flashed his speed and he was in front after a half-mile time of: 46.05. He was put to a drive just passing the six-furlong marker but fell back when he could not continue with the winner.
Tommy Macho was coming off a layoff and he has every right to improve. He raced in the middle of the field early, splits foes coming into the stretch and garnered the third. He was a juicy 15-1 and he completed a near $300 $2 trifecta.
Going into the Met Mile, Mor Spirit has been in the exacta in ten of twelve races. A Grade 1 winner at 2, the runner was hung out to dry from post 17 in the Kentucky Derby last year. He can utilize his natural speed but one of his best assets is that he doesn’t need the lead to win.
The trip was the key to his Met Mile success as he just sat chilly under Smith in second and took over whenever he wanted.
The feeling is that Mor Spirit has plenty of left in the tank. He’s run great wherever Baffert has shipped him and that will give him options as the summer unfolds and into the fall. Mor Spirit earned a career best 117 Beyer Speed Figure. He joined other legends like Equipoise, Stymie, Tom Fool, Sword Dancer, Kelso, Forego and Ghostzapper that also enjoyed Met Mile Success.
As for Sharp Azteca, this son of Freud will not be on anybody’s couch any time soon. He is trained by Jorge Navarro, who is popping at a 25% clip this year. He already is a Grade 3 winner and his class was on display for all to see last year when he was beaten less than a length in the Grade 1 Malibu.
Although he could not pull off the Met Mile success, fans have to still give Sharp Azteca his props. He had not run since being beaten a length in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile at Dubai. It can also take a lot of steam out of a horse when he has to ship back from Dubai so Sharp Azteca’s form is a testament to the good training of Navarro.
The other wins by Smith and Baffert have to be scrutinized. The pair started the day together in the second race, the $150,000 Easy Goer Stakes. Baffert gave Smith a leg up on West Coast, who had never been worse than second in his four starts, and the son of Flatter overcame a poor trip to win by nearly four lengths.
Two races later, Smith and Baffert were at it again in the Grade 1 $700,000 Acorn Stakes and the pair proved they can adapt to any situation. Abel Tasman was caught five wide down the backstretch in the mile event. She eventually got to the inside and saved ground, and then responded when it counted to come from dead last for the win. Salty ran second in the Acorn and Jose Ortiz got Benner Island in the right spot to run third.
Baffert was winning the Acorn for the fifth time in his career. And the feeling is he is not through writing the Acorn history book.
Smith showed in the next race, the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, that he wasn’t just riding Baffert’s coattails. Smith was aboard the superstar Songbird, who was making her first start since being beaten a nose by the champion Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Songbird had trained fast and steadily for the Phipps and she drilled a best of the morning: 46 and change four days before the event. Smith sent Songbird along, lost the lead briefly, re-claimed the advantage at the top of the stretch and prevailed as the favorite.
About an hour later, the California boys collaborated on another victory. Three-year-old fillies gathered for the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes at 7 furlongs and there was a ton of speed in the cast. American Anthem had trained fast for Baffert and was coming off a facile victory in the Grade 3 Laz Barrera at Santa Anita. Baffert had tried this miss in several longer races but she could not win routing. She had won her prior two sprints and now is three for three sprinting after getting an ideal journey in the Stephens. She sat fourth early, just a couple of lengths off the lead, and then dug in when it counted to prevail as the chalk.
Baffert saddled four runners on Belmont Stakes Day and every single one of them won. To ship 3,000 mile and go perfect is obviously not an easy thing to do. The future is bright for all of these winners. West Coast has shown he can win at a number of different venues and he has shown he can run huge when he is near the pace or when he has to come from far back.
Abel Tasman shocked last year at 12-1 in her 2016 finale but she has shown she is the real deal. After winning the Kentucky Oaks, she could be well on her way to an Eclipse Award.
American Anthem has a chance to become one of the best ever. The feeling is he will be able to carry his speed successfully under the right circumstances and the classy blood is there. American Anthem’s dam was a double winner, but more importantly, the dam is a sibling to Banshee Breeze. All that runner did in her stellar career was win five Grade 1s and earn over $2.7 million.
Mor Spirit just seems to be getting better like fine wine. He only has run two poor races in his career and had valid excuses in both of them.
What this tells bettors is that when Baffert ships in for a stakes, pay strict attention and get out the wallet.
