Journalism solidified his status as the Kentucky Derby favorite by winning the Grade 1 $500,000 Santa Anita Derby Saturday, rallying from last in the five-horse field and recovering from losing momentum.
The even-money favorite in the West Coast’s top race for 3-year-olds began an outside rally near the quarter pole and surged past Baeza with less than a furlong to go to win by three-quarters of a length.
Westwood, the longest shot in the field at 44-1, took the early lead, completing the opening quarter-mile in 22.25 seconds. Citizen Bull passed Westwood and led at the half-mile mark in the 1/1-8- mile race, with Baeza third, Barnes fourth and Journalism fifth.
Citizen Bull led Westwood by a head through three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.42, about when Westwood started to slow down, impeding Journalism’s progress.
“I was trapped on the fence, and I thought, `Wow, this isn’t looking good,”’ jockey Umberto Rispoli said. “I knew my only way out was to push Barnes a little bit.”
As the field entered the stretch, Baeza was in the lead, a length ahead of Journalism.
“He is a baby still and loses focus,” said Hector Berrios, who was aboard Baeza, who was racing for the fourth time, with each of his previous starts coming in maiden special weight races.
“When we got to the stretch, he started lugging and lugging. I thought, `Come on now.’ Then when he felt the other horse (Journalism), he came back.”
Journalism won in 1:49.56 before a crowd at Santa Anita Park announced at 34,812, the highest Santa Anita Derby Day attendance since 2018 when a crowd of 32,089 witnessed future Triple Crown winner Justify’s three-length victory.
“It’s rare for a horse to get held up at the three-eighths pole and to get back in the race in that way,” Rispoli said. “It’s always difficult, especially for such a big horse. But he has such an amazing style and is just an amazing horse.”
Journalism paid $4, $2.80 and $2.10. Baeza returned $6.20 and $3.60. Westwood paid $5.20.
Before the Santa Anita Derby was run, Journalism closed as the 5-1 favorite in this weekend’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
The victory was the fourth straight for Journalism after he began his career by finishing third in a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita Nov. 27.
“That was pretty impressive win by Journalism,” said Bob Baffert, the Hall of Famer who trains Citizen Bull and Barnes. “He’s a very good horse and he has the right style. (Trainer) Mike McCarthy has done a great job with him.”
Journalism began his winning streak with a victory in a maiden special weight race at Del Mar Nov. 17, then won the Grade 2 $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 14 and Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes March 1 at Santa Anita.
Citizen Bull was fourth, the first time the Eclipse Award winner as the top 2-year-old of 2024 and winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile had finished out of the money in his six-race career.
“I was discouraged (Citizen Bull) didn’t get the win today,” Baffert said. “He got tired. He’s a heavy horse. The track was deep today. We will figure this out. We have a week and then we’ll decide what is next.”