Liaison won the $70,000 Santana Mile by a half-length over Midnight Transfer for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Ridden by Martin Garcia, Liaison ran the distance in 1:36.36 and paid $9, $4.20 and $2.80. The 4-year-old colt had been idle since losing the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 25.
''He's been working well for this,'' Baffert said. ''We had him pretty cranked. He ran a great race, he showed some fight, and coming off a long layoff like that makes me think he's going to be a good handicap horse later on.''
Midnight Transfer returned $2.80 and $2.40, while Tres Borrachos was another 1 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $2.80 to show.
The victory, worth $42,900, increased Liaison's career earnings to $631,794, with four wins in 13 starts.
