$300,000 Swaps Stakes (GII) - July 18, 2009

Bob Baffert, still reeling just a week after the sudden retirement of Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile, unveiled another 3-year-old star Saturday as Misremembered gave the soon-to-be Hall of Fame trainer a record-tying fourth victory in the $300,000 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park.

This one was special for a couple of reasons. Not only did it help fill the sudden void in the Baffert stable, it gave Baffert his first stakes victory as breeder.

Its sort of been tough, Ive been depressed since Pioneerof the Nile got hurt, so this sort of takes a lot of the sting out of it, said Baffert, who will be inducted into racings Hall of Fame next month in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Misremembered, ridden perfectly by Victor Espinoza, seized the lead from the start, got a breather on the backstretch, and had plenty left in the stretch, pulling away from favorite Grazen to win by 1 ¾ lengths.

Victor, that was his, Baffert said. I said get him in a nice easy mode and he beat those guys to the punch. Hes got that huge long stride, so hopefully we can keep him healthy.

Baffert, who also saddled Captain Steve (2000), Congaree (2001) and During (2003) to win the Swaps, matched the record originally set by D. Wayne Lukas.

Ive never had a horse like this (as a breeder) — all our horses are terrible, Baffert said with a laugh. I wanted to breed her to Point Given, but John Sikura forced me to breed her to Candy Ride. So its worked out. Its exciting to have a horse like this. It looks like this one is not a problem, hes getting better. He was coming into this race in great shape and hes going to get better with age.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Swaps Stakes
• Misremembered
• Victor Espinoza
• Bob Baffert
• Hollywood Park
• 2009 Swaps Stakes

[jhordanian]

Hope Misremembered returns quickly. He went on to win the Indiana Derby and run 2nd in the Clark on dirt and in March won the gr.1 Santa Anita Handicap. But he hasn't run since.