Bayern uses PA Derby to enter rankings

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Bayern, trained by Bob Baffert, outdistanced Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome in Saturday’s Pennsylvania Derby with the victory jumping him into this week’s NTRA Thoroughbred Poll top 10.

Ridden by Martin Garcia, Bayern set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile PA Derby to win by almost six lengths. It was his first start since finishing last as the 2-1 favorite in the Travers four weeks earlier.

“That was just a powerful performance,” Baffert said from California. “He broke well and they let us go and Martin hustled to get away from California Chrome. When California Chrome was pinned in there I knew it was going to be tough for California Chrome. He was the target – we weren’t the target. When Bayern runs like that, nobody’s going to beat him.”

The voters recognized the colt with 192 points to move him into a fifth-place tie with Itsmyluckyday.

Two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan remains first in the voting with 34 top votes and 427 points. The 7-year-old gelding won the Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 30 in his return start from colic surgery on May 16 and will next start in Churchill Downs’ Shadwell Turf Mile on Oct. 4.

Undefeated Eclipse Award winner Shared Belief, winner of the Pacific Classic, is second with seven first-place votes and 390 points. The 3-year-old gelding is slated for Saturday’s Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita.

Leading 4-year-old filly Close Hatches is third with two top votes and 325 points. She’s followed by California Chrome, sixth in the PA Derby, with a single first-place vote and 215 points.

Following Bayern and Itsmyluckyday in the rankings are Cotillion winner Untapable (171), Moreno (97), Wicked Strong (96) and Palace Malice (1, 75).

The National Poll continues through the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 1.

Categorized in: Horses