Concert Tour will make his heavily-anticipated stakes debut in Saturday’s $200,000 San Vicente S. (G2) at Santa Anita. The Bob Baffert-trained colt will travel seven furlongs against five challengers, and Joel Rosario retains the mount.
A Gary and Mary West homebred son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, Concert Tour received rave reviews when winning at first asking, rolling to a convincing wire-to-wire victory in a six-furlong maiden special weight on Jan. 15. The dark bay registered a commendable 94 Brisnet Speed rating.
Concert Tour was bet down as the fourth individual choice in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
Six-time Kentucky Derby winner Baffert has won the San Vicente a record 10 times, the first coming in 1997 with Hall of Famer Silver Charm, who went on to capture the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
The Hall of Fame trainer took last year’s edition with Nadal, who followed with victories in the Rebel S. (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G1) before being unfortunately sidelined by an injury.
Concert Tour promises to show speed from his far outside post, and his stablemate, Freedom Fighter, should be hustling from his innermost gate.
Freedom Fighter headed to the sidelines after posting a wire-to-wire victory in his career debut at Del Mar, scoring as the 1-2 favorite in early August. The Violence colt returns from a 189-day layoff with three recent bullet workouts, and Drayden Van Dyke will be up.
The Chosen Vron faces a class test after romping wire-to-wire over California-bred maiden special weight rivals in his first outing. The chestnut gelding earned a nice 94 Speed figure, and Mike Smith takes over the reins for Eric Kruljac. Found My Ball also exits a sharp maiden win against state-bred foes, rallying to score going away by six lengths in his second start, and Mario Gutierrez guides for Doug O’Neill.
Mr. Impossible, a clear second to Concert Tour, jumps to stakes competition for Simon Callaghan. Uncle Boogie completes the field.
