Rolling Fog lands Del Mar Futurity for Bob Baffert
A new history was written at Del Mar on September 5th, when Bob Baffert’s juvenile, Rolling Fog, registered a comprehensive win in the $300,000, Del Mar Futurity.
The Grade 1 event had some big names in the line-up. The pressure was huge on every contestant, and Rolling Fog was the only one to respond like a pro.
The officials were unable to start the affair at the scheduled time, when Yankee Rebel suddenly turned himself around in the starting gate and as a result, backed out.
The then 32-1 chance, in the process, injured jockey Victor Espinoza, who was replaced for his remaining two appearances on the closing day at Del Mar.
Through it all, Baffert’s charge performed admirably in the hands of Rafael Bejarano. The 2-year-old broke terrifically to secure a place in the front row. He kept running nicely to settle into a stalking spot just behind Caballo Del Cielo, who set the pace
early on.
Bejarano patted Rolling Fog’s back to pump up speed, entering the far turn. The dashing colt shifted his gears, and kicked clear to pass the stern Polytrack test in a final time of 1:22.96.
An exceptional effort helped the Arnold Zetcher LLC-owned seize the top rank by one and a quarter lengths. Bejarano expressed enormous delight over bagging the big prize, saying that the horse’s hard work in the practice sessions paid off well. He stated
after the race:
"This horse had been training so great, and today he ran to it. Great trip today; everything worked out perfect. The distance was a bit of a question in my mind with him, but now I see he can handle it. In fact, I think he'll go longer. A really good race
for him."
Know More, who made a winning debut in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes last month, was another strong finisher, but could only grab the second place under Garrett Gomez. His jockey uttered:
"We were down inside (early) and that wasn't the place where you wanted to be. He was back behind horses for the first time and he was having a bit of a hard time figuring it out. But I got him out and we made our run."
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