ARCADIA — In the three months since Citizen Bull completed his 2-year-old championship season, other horses had come along to raise doubts about whether this imposing-looking colt really is the top Kentucky Derby prospect – even in his own barn.
Saturday, Citizen Bull returned to remind handicappers who’s No. 1.
Outrunning trainer Bob Baffert’s expectations for a comeback race, an eager Citizen Bull carried jockey Martin Garcia to the early lead and went on to 3 3/4-length victory in the $200,000, Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.
Second was Rodriguez, one of the Baffert stablemates whose January races had taken a share of the spotlight even as Citizen Bull was receiving the divisional crown from Eclipse Award voters.
Third in the five-horse race was Madaket Road, another Baffert product, as the Hall of Famer and six-time Kentucky Derby winner dominated as much as ever in his seventh consecutive Lewis Stakes victory.
Baffert has others on the 2025 Triple Crown trail, none more popular than Barnes, the San Vicente Stakes winner who’s the official early Derby favorite after being bet down to 6-1 in the Jan. 17-19 round of future wagering.
But they, and a nation of talented 3-year-olds, will have to get past Citizen Bull, who now has led from start to finish in the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah at Santa Anita in October, the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar in November, and the one-mile Lewis.
“The Bull is back!” Baffert said as he went out to greet the winner, who paid $3.80 as the bettors’ choice Saturday and was clocked in 1:36.71.
The moment of concern for Bull backers was the start. The son of Into Mischief bobbled out of the gate. Garcia said it was self-made trouble.
“He was really fresh,” the rider said. “He broke too fast and the ground broke out from under him.”
Citizen Bull quickly got his footing and went to the lead from the No. 2 post. He was pressured in the first turn by Rodriguez and on the backstretch by Clock Tower. But he’d taken command by the time they turned into the stretch, and it took a left-handed crack of Garcia’s whip inside the furlong pole to keep him from waiting for competition.
Asked if he was surprised by Citizen Bull’s performance off a 92-day layoff, Garcia indicated he wasn’t, because of Baffert’s training.
“He knows when the horses are ready,” Garcia said. “That’s why he’s Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.”
Asked if he was surprised, Baffert said, “Yeah.”
“He shows me so much more in the afternoons than he does in (training in) the mornings,” Baffert said of Citizen Bull, who won for the fourth time in five races. “He’s got gears. He keeps it going (in the stretch).”
The victory was worth 20 Derby qualifying points, widening Citizen Bull’s lead in those standings and all but guaranteeing him a spot in the 20-horse starting gate on May 3 providing he stays healthy. The obvious path would be the March 1 San Felipe Stakes and the April 5 Santa Anita Derby.
Rodriguez’s second-place finish didn’t match the Jan. 4 maiden victory that earned a the top Beyer speed figure (103) among 3-year-olds this season. But it wasn’t discouraging.
After deciding not to challenge Citizen Bull for the lead – all three Baffert horses have the same owner, a partnership led by SF Racing – jockey Juan Hernandez let Rodriguez drop from second back to fourth on the backstretch before they rallied on the outside.
“It was pretty impressive what he did, running second,” Baffert said of Rodriguez. “He’ll get a lot out of this.”
Said Hernandez: “He just got beaten by a better horse. I have no excuses for him.”
Betting favorites won four Santa Anita stakes and eight of 10 races overall Saturday, in a meet where favorites are clicking at a stunning 49%.
Kopion ($4.40) was impressive for jockey Antonio Fresu and trainer Richard Mandella in the $200,000, Grade II Santa Monica Stakes, the Grade I-winning 4-year-old filly improving to 3 for 3 in 7-furlong sprints and 4 for 6 in her career.