Bob Baffert does it again as he landed the CashCall Futurity for the sixth time with Liaison
The 2011 Breeders’ Cup was a disappointing outing for trainer Bob Baffert and his runners, but some trainers keep on winning a particular race and feel comfortable running those races, and for Bob Baffert, his special race is the Grade 1, $750,000 CashCall Futurity for 2-year-olds which he landed yet again for the sixth time in his career.
This time around it was the 2-year-old Arnold Zetcher owned colt, Liaison, who did it for Bob Baffert in the CashCall Futurity with his calvary charge in the stretch to win the $750,000 event.
In the bulky field of 13 juvenile runners, to run over a distance of 1 1/16 miles over the Hollywood Park’s cushion track on 17 December, 2011, Liaison was sent off as the 5 to 1 shot with Rafael Bejarano aboard kept it docile till the mid stretch.
That is when the pair decided to take the race by the scuff of the neck and took the lead past the mid stretch, but it wasn’t over because nobody was willing to be the second best in one of the most important races for juvenile colts.
Jerry Hollendorfer trained son of Lucky Pulpit, Rousing Sermon, under jockey Joe Talamo had enough left in him in the final yards of the race to give a last shot at the 1 1/16 mile test. Liaison had a job to do to maintain his lead over rest of the 12 runners and the fast approaching Rousing Sermon.
The 13 to 1 choice, Rousing Sermon was unable to go past Liaison, as the winner kept him at bay by a mere neck to win the race as the maiden Brother Francis finished behind Rousing Sermon in third, as another Bob Baffert trained colt, Sky Kingdom, finished fourth.
Liaison won the race in 1 minute and 42.86 seconds over the cushion track. “Winning this race is very important. It’s the last chance to run at a big pot other than the Breeders’ Cup," Baffert said. "This race is very pivotal for future stars. It’s where they start separating themselves. I’m glad I was on the front end of the separation.’’
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