Brant, Potente give Baffert two chances in San Felipe

Mar 03, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Brant shown winning last summer's Del Mar Futurity (G1) (Photo by Benoit Photo)

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, a nine-time winner of the San Felipe (G2), has two chances to pad his total in Saturday’s $200,000 edition at Santa Anita.

Note that his contenders, Brant and Potente, bring different career arcs into the 1 1/16-mile prep. While Brant was a high-profile two-year-old who was last seen finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), Potente just made his debut on Jan. 31.

Both could be tested by rivals with recent stakes experience. So Happy stretches out from his victory in the seven-furlong San Vicente (G2), and Secured Freedom comes off a third in the Robert B. Lewis (G3), the most recent race on Santa Anita’s Road to the Kentucky Derby.

The San Felipe is worth points on the 50-25-15-10-5 scale to the top five finishers. Carded as the eighth race on a stakes-laden Santa Anita Handicap Day, it is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, and you can watch and wager on TwinSpires.com.

Let’s take a closer look at the San Felipe field.

Brant sold for an Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company record of $3 million at last year’s March Sale as a two-year-old in training. The Gun Runner colt lived up to billing when capturing his first two starts, including the Del Mar Futurity (G1).

A gutsy performance from start to finish. 🔁

Brant gets the job done in the Grade I Del Mar Futurity. pic.twitter.com/9jprp4Tn89

— Del Mar Racetrack (@DelMarRacing) September 7, 2025

But Brant tired to third behind champion Ted Noffey in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his two-turn debut, and the Zedan Racing Stables runner will attempt the same distance off a four-month break here. Florent Geroux picks up the mount.

Potente, a $2.4 million purchase as a Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, took longer to make it to the races for Speedway Stables. The son of perennial leading sire Into Mischief proved worth the wait in his game, front-running premiere. But Potente will face both a class and distance test as he takes a big step up from a six-furlong maiden to a Derby prep. Juan Hernandez will be aboard for the first time.

.@J_Keelerman talks about a trio of recent maiden winners that caught his eye in the final week of January. 🎓https://t.co/ceWoSQU3SO

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 4, 2026

The Mark Glatt-trained So Happy upstaged a Baffert favorite in the San Vicente, where he toppled the odds-on Buetane to go 2-for-2 in sprints. Now the Runhappy colt tries a route of ground as he explores the Derby trail.

Secured Freedom races for the same connections as the 2023 San Felipe winner, Practical Move, who was also by the same sire, Practical Joke. Trained by Tim Yakteen for Leslie and Pierre Amestoy Jr. and Roger Beasley, Secured Freedom was a belated third in the Lewis in his stakes and two-turn debut. But he could fare better this time.

Aside from benefiting from that experience, Secured Freedom won’t face the top two from the Lewis – winner Plutarch is sidelined, and runner-up Intrepido is awaiting the April 4 Santa Anita Derby (G1).

Also advancing from the Lewis is Robusta, who faded to sixth. Trainer Doug O’Neill now puts blinkers on the Calumet Farm homebred.

Dan Blacker is double-handed with Start the Ride, the upset winner of the Cal Cup Derby over this track and trip in state-restricted company, and the class-challenged Flashy Fritz, who just lost a race for horses with a $25,000 claiming price. Blacker claimed Flashy Fritz out of that race, so he will be making his first start for new connections here.