HOT SPRINGS -- Stablemates from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's California barn swept the two divisions of the Grade I, $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on Saturday.
More than an hour after the first division winner Charlatan had returned to his stall, Nadal came from just off a fast pace to pull away and win the second division in 1:48.49 at Oaklawn Casino Racing Resort.
"We had our fastballs in there today," Baffert said. "We're fortunate everything worked out. I was so worried they weren't going to split that race because I did not want to run those two together."
Nadal, ridden by Joel Rosario, ran just off the lead of Wells Bayou, ridden by Florent Geroux and trained by Brad Cox, through the backstretch. He took the lead late in the last turn, then responded in the final 1/16th to a brief challenge from 9-2 second-choice King Guillermo to pull away and win by 3 lengths.
"I was concerned about all of them," Baffert said. "You never know. You just don't know. You're always hoping they have something extra. I talked to Rosario, and he said after he got that lead by himself, Nadal started looking around a little bit, but then when he saw him, he took off again. I mean, King Guillermo, he's good. I think the 3-year-olds are really a strong group. I mean, they are really good horses."
King Guillermo finished second, 1 1/2 lengths in front of third-place Finnick the Fierce, ridden by Martin Garcia at 62-1. Farmington Road was fourth, 7 lengths behind the winner.
Both divisions offered a total of 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with 100, 40, 20 and 1o going to first through fourth, respectively.
King Guillermo, with a win in the Grade II Tampa Bay Derby on March 7; Wells Bayou, with a win in the Louisiana Derby; and Nadal, with his Rebel effort, each started the Arkansas Derby nearly assured of a place in the Kentucky Derby's 20-stall starting gate.
Nadal, a son of Blame, started the Arkansas Derby undefeated in three previous starts, all as a 3-year-old, including a win in Oaklawn's Grade II Rebel Stakes on March 14 in his last start.
Wells Bayou led through an opening quarter-mile in 23.08, the half-mile in 46.21, and three-quarters in 1:09.85, but Nadal took the lead shortly thereafter.
"Nadal looked good," Rosario said. "Very good race. He sat off that horse and then took care of the rest. He's a champ."
"I want to thank the Cella family," Baffert said. "We were fortunate and happy they were able to split it and give everybody a chance to get Derby points. It was just tremendous racing. Everyone was watching Oaklawn Park, and everybody knows where Oaklawn Park is now."
Oaklawn President Louis Cella oversaw the Arkansas Derby split, a change made last week. The race was rescheduled from April 11 after Churchill Downs rescheduled the Kentucky Derby from Saturday to Sept. 5 because of the state of Kentucky's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I wish the Derby was next month, in June, but we just have to put these horses in bubble wrap," Baffert said. "I'm just glad everything worked out. We sent all the good ones out there. That's what you have to do if you're going to win at Oaklawn. You have to send nothing but the cream, and we're just glad it worked out."
"I just have to thank the timing," said George Bolton, one of Nadal's owners. "Nadal had six weeks between starts. He went back to California, and Bob worked him behind horses three times.
"I thought if there was speed today, he could sit off it. He had a much more comfortable trip than in the Rebel when he was attacked by three different challenges. I was very proud. He finished well."
If Nadal and Charlatan make it to the Kentucky Derby's starting gate, they will have to race one another in addition to 18 more. That race has never been split.
"If they're going to do it for anybody, the white-haired wonder [Baffert] would get it done," Bolton said.
"That would be good if we could," Baffert said.
Sports on 05/03/2020