DEL MAR — The only thing missing from Bob Baffert’s big weekend was Bob Baffert.

While the Hall of Fame trainer was away in Kentucky, scouting the next wave of juvenile talent at the Keeneland Yearling Sales, 1-9 favorite Brant finished a length ahead of Desert Gate to give Baffert a 1-2 finish in the Del Mar Futurity on the 31st and final day of Del Mar’s 86th summer meeting.

It’s good to be King.

Brant’s win was Baffert’s fifth straight in the Futurity and 19th in the 30 editions of the 7-furlong Del Mar championship for 2-year-olds since Baffert scored his first Futurity triumph in 1996.

And coupled with Bottle of Rouge’s upset victory Saturday in the Del Mar Debutante – Baffert’s 12th win in the fillies’ 2-year-old championship race – Baffert has now swept the juvenile titles two straight years and eight times since 1996.

“He’s a really talented horse,” Baffert’s assistant Jimmy Barnes said after Brant’s near wire-to-wire victory in the Futurity. “Actually, they all are. We’re very happy.”

Brant, Bottle of Rouge, Desert Gate and Debutante runner-up Explora are at the top of a pyramid of prized 2-year-olds being trained by Baffert, who earlier in the summer meeting said there weren’t enough races for 2-year-olds to meet the demands of his deep and talented stable.

Brant, for example, was a $3 million purchase earlier this year by Amir Zedan. He won his debut at Del Mar by 5¼ lengths under Flavien Prat and the 2024 Eclipse champion jockey again flew across country to be on the son of Gun Runner.

t wasn’t a totally flawless effort by Brant, who broke in leaving the gate and bumped Brigante. But Prat quickly had Brant straightened out and in the lead.

“I think he was ready for the day,” Prat said of Brant. “When we broke, he was very quick, he was very comfortable. He took a nice breather around the turn and we made it to the finish line.”

“It started off a little anxious there,” said Barnes. “He broke inward but recovered quickly.”

Plus. Baffert’s wealth of juvenile talent helped both the trainer and jockey Juan Hernandez win titles.Hernandez rode 18 of Baffert’s 24 winners, including eight wins in 2-year-old maiden races. At one point during the meeting, Hernandez rode 10 straight winners trained by Baffert. Hernandez won his fifth straight summer meeting title with 46 wins.

Antonio Fresu finished second in the jockey standings with 37 wins, followed by Hector Berrios (26) and Kazushi Kimura and Umberto Rispoli (23 apiece). Mark Glatt and Peter Miller tied for second in the trainer standings with 18 wins apiece and were followed by Phil D’Amato (17) and John Sadler (16).

Favorite Hey Nay Nay (Berrios) moved up from 5 furlongs to a mile to score his second win of the meeting in Sunday’s second feature, the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf. Hey Nay Nay ran second for most of the race before taking the lead in the stretch and finishing 1½ lengths ahead of Plutarch (Hernandez).

“I like this horse, he’s a professional,” said Berrios. “I tried to go to the lead, but Sadler told me if another rider goes first, just stay second.”

“I told Hector to get clear because when you’re running 13 2-year-olds on the turf you don’t want to get slaughtered by some 60-1 shot,” said Sadler. “I said put him in the race and he just laid second until the stretch and that was good. The idea was to get a race here so he’s ready for the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf).”

Looking back

“We’re very pleased with the meeting,” Del Mar president Josh Rubinstein said.

He reported handle was up 6.7% with an average field size being 8.7 horses per race (up from 8.6 last summer). Average attendance was up just over 3% to 9,088.

“It looks like the single, Southern California circuit is benefiting the sport,” said Rubinstein.

One other key statistic. Del Mar lost two horses this summer, both during races. “That’s two losses in 80,000 outings in either races or morning exercises,” said Rubinstein.

The fall season begins Oct. 31-Nov. 1 when Del Mar hosts the Breeders’ Cup for the fourth time.

Notable

Favorites won 42.4% (124 of 292) of the races during the summer meeting, the highest percentage since the record of 43% of the favorites won in 1954 during the era of jockey Bill Shoemaker.

Pacific Classic champion Fierceness was named the Horse of the Meet.

With Brant a 1-9 favorite in the field of six, there was no place or show wagering on the Futurity as the track protected itself from a negative pool.

In addition to winning the Futurity, Prat scored a pair of wins for trainer Richard Baltas with Modus Bestia ($7.20) in the eighth and favorite Friendly Confines ($5.80) in the finale.

Berrios and Sadler teamed for two wins Sunday with Ventry ($8.40) in the fifth race and Hey Nay Nay.

Jockey Diego Herrera’s thoughts on 60-1 longshot Dreaming of Alys’ victory in Saturday’s Juvenile Fillies Turf: “Horses don’t read odds and neither do I.”

Originally Published: September 7, 2025 at 8:27 PM PDT