Baffert earns 3,000th win with Thousand Words at Santa Anita

Baffert earns 3,000th win with Thousand Words at Santa Anita

Updated Jun. 18, 2020 12:58 p.m. ET

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert got his 3,000th career victory when Thousand Words won the $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Saturday.

Thousand Words won by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 3 race named for Baffert's late client. The colt ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.64 at Santa Anita to earn 10 points on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard that determines the 20-horse field for the race in May.

Baffert also won the Lewis Stakes for a record eighth time.

“I had a feeling it was going to happen in this race,” he said about his 3,000th victory. “The first 50 wins were probably the hardest, 100 were life-changers. I feel very blessed and fortunate that I've been able to last in this business and do so well after coming from the quarterhorse business.”

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Dale Baird holds the career wins record by a trainer with 9,445.

Thousand Words paid $3.20, $2.60 and $2.10 as the 3-5 favorite in the field of six 2-year-olds. He was purchased for $1 million at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale and is unbeaten in three starts.

“He ran very well,” winning jockey Flavien Prat said. “He put me in a good spot and he was comfortable down there. He took the dirt (in his face) well and when I asked him to run, he really accelerated.”

Royal Act paid $8.60 and $4.40 at 18-1 odds in his first start on dirt. He earned four Kentucky Derby qualifying points. High Velocity, also trained by Baffert, returned $2.40 to show. He received two Derby points.

The victory, worth $60,000, increased Thousand Words' career earnings to $211,000.

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