Natalie J. Baffert’s Contested propped at the break of Saturday’s Grade 1,
$500,000
Test at Saratoga and found herself in the unusual spot of running off the
pace, but that didn’t stop the bay miss from a rallying two-length win on the
wire. With jockey Rafael Bejarano aboard, the Bob Baffert-trained sophomore
finished seven furlongs in 1:22 2/5 to return $4, $3.60 and $2.60 as the
even-money favorite.
“I think she runs better off the pace,” assistant trainer Jim Barnes
declared. “They were going very fast. I wouldn’t have wanted to have been up
with them. I said (to Rafael Bejarano), ‘You got to play the break. If you catch
a flyer, you can actually go. If you get away slowly, just put her in a
comfortable, clean spot.’ And he did.”
Bejarano gave Contested a smart ride down the backstretch after her poor
beginning, settling her into third as Ullapool set speedy splits of :21 2/5 and
:44. Gypsy Robin raced behind the leader, while Contested and Bejarano bided
their time. Contested went after Ullapool upon hitting the lane, reeling in that
rival while holding off the late runs of Gypsy Robin and Beautiful But Blue.
“My horse broke a little slow, but I knew (Gypsy Robin) and the other horse (Ullapool)
were going to go to the lead,” Bejarano explained. “I just tried to figure it
out and get my horse in good position. When we came to the stretch the race was
done. I had plenty of horse and she showed me a big kick.
“She didn’t stumble; she just broke a little slow,” he added. “I didn’t try
to rush; I just tried to get in good position. It actually benefited me because
the horses on the lead were going very fast.”
Gypsy Robin had a half-length so spare on Beautiful But Blue at odds of 15-1.
Those two were followed by Well Kept, Jazzy Idea, Amie’s Dini, Book Review,
Aubby K, Ullapool and Yara.
“She ran the way she had been training. We just got beat by a better horse,”
stated Gatewood Bell, co-owner of Gypsy Robin. “She ran her race, which was good
to see after that race at Belmont (when finishing sixth and last) in the (Grade
3) Victory Ride. She had a weird ship to Belmont and it was hot that day. It was
one of those races where you could draw a line through it.
“I was a little concerned about the pace when I saw (trainer Eddie)
Kenneally’s horse (Ullapool) go out there and set those early fractions, but
(jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) did a good job by taking her back and getting her to
relax. I also think taking the blinkers off helped. Johnny thought he had it won
until we got outrun in the end.”
Contested was looking to rebound in this spot off a subpar last-of-five
effort in the Grade 1 Mother Goose at Belmont Park. That race followed a quartet
of wins that dated back to her maiden win at Santa Anita last October. After
that 6 1/2-length victory, the bay lass posted a 5 3/4-length score in an
allowance over that same track to open her sophomore campaign in mid-April.
Easy wins in the Grade 3 Eight Belles and Grade 1 Acorn came next, and the
Test improved Contested’s record to 5-1-0 from seven starts. She doubled her
lifetime earnings to $633,754 with the winner’s share from the Test.
Bred in Kentucky by Cherry Valley Farm, Contested was a $110,000 Keeneland
September yearling. She was produced by the winning Arch mare Gold Vault, a
half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and sire Pomeroy. Contested descends from
French champion Imprudence II, who captured the English and French One Thousand
Guineas, as well as the Epsom Oaks, in 1947.
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