Despite being one of the top candidates for the Kentucky Derby, Baeza was not officially at Derby Field until Friday when Rodriguez had to scratch from the race. Now that Baeza is in, the lightly lace Colt has a big shot to take down the roses.
21 Baeza
Trainer John Sirevs Jockey Flavian Pras Trast Race 2nd long device record 4 start: 1 win, 2 second Scareia revenue $148,500 Best Career Speed Diagram 101 (2025 Santa Anita Delby)
Below we’ll dig further into Baeza as part of a series that will profile all the horses competing in the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 3rd. Here we look back at his past performances.
Kentucky Derby Profile 1 Citizen Bull | 2 Neoequos | 3 Final Gambit | 5 American Promise | 6 Praise Daytona | 7 Luxor Cafe | 8 Journalism | 9 Burnham Square | 10 Grande | 11 Flying Mohawk | 12 East Avenue | 13 Publishers | 14 Tiztastic | 15 Rendering Judgment | 16 Coal Battle | 17 Sandman | 18 Sovereignty | 19 Gold | 20 Owen Almighty | 21 Baeza
Kentucky Derby chooses Michelle Yue Genes | Jody Demling
Things you need to know about Baeza
Trained by John Sirevus, best known for training Baeza’s fan favorite and Hall of Fame runner Zenyatta. He didn’t make his debut until December (in the grass race) and didn’t break the maiden until February 14th. Other speed figures make the race even faster.
However, it was his next performance that established Baeza as a serious racehorse. In the Santa Anita Derby, he ran big around the first turn, moving to a fast pace early on to confront leader Citizenbull. Baeza won 101 Beyer for that effort and ran a better race than journalism in that race when considering losses on earth without a doubt. (To be fair, journalism encountered traffic troubles on both turns.)
There are many things that Baeza likes in the Kentucky Derby. For one, he’s fast. His career-high 101 Beyer is second only to the highest career in journalism (108) among future Derby participants. He was faster in all races. He is bred to be a classic winner. His Half Brother Mage won the Kentucky Derby two years ago, and last year another half-brother, Dornock, won the bets for Belmont and Haskell. Baeza’s Midpack running style is perfect for extremely heavy Derby fields with either a speed hose or a closer. And he’ll be better priced than Twinspires’ journalism and 1/St Bet.
Baeza needs to change the journalism table, but while the lightly raced Baeza has the opportunity to improve Saturday, journalism may not.
Post-drawing analysis
Baeza was drawn into the field only after Rodriguez had to scratch from the race. As a result, Baeza leaves the far outside post. No. 20 posts are not ideal and can lead to ground losses, but are better than being on the field. Also, Jockey Flavian Pratt is very conscious of saving the ground on every mount, so hopefully he gets as many people as possible. It seems like a midpack is likely to be a trip outside.
