Photo:

Jon Putman / Eclipse Sportswire

Even though he took a stutter step out of the gate, Eclipse
Award winner Citizen Bull shot to the lead early and never gave it up, racing
to a 3 3/4-length triumph Saturday against four other 3-year-olds in the
Grade 3, $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.

It was the seventh consecutive Bob Lewis victory for Hall of
Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who extended his record of 13 wins in the race. It also clinched a place in Kentucky Derby 2025 for Citizen Bull, who added 20 qualifying points to bring his total to 60.

Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.

A $675,000 Into Mischief colt owned by the SF Racing partnership, Citizen Bull (4-5) stumbled beneath jockey Martín García in his second step out of the gate in the two-turn mile. He had no trouble finding the lead over stablemate Rodríguez (7-5) through the first quarter-mile in 23.27 seconds.

Clock Tower, one of the two starters not trained by Baffert,
hustled forward stalk Citizen Bull through a half-mile in 47.06 seconds.
Rodríguez found new momentum through the second turn, pushing Citizen Bull
through three-quarters of a mile in 1:10.99.

In the stretch, Citizen Bull looked as he did in his last
two wins that clinched him the 2024 juvenile-male championship. Having his way
on the lead as was the case in the American Pharoah (G1) and Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile, the $675,000 colt drew away in hand and made it no contest in the
homestretch.

Rodríguez finished second, Madaket Road (5-1) completed the
Baffert trifecta by finishing third, Clock Tower (12-1) was fourth for trainer
Wesley Ward, and Valentines Candy (45-1) in his 10th start came in last for
Jesús Mendoza. The race was worth 20-10-6-4-2 points to the five finishers. The rule that will trim the rewards for short fields does not take effect until the 50- and 100-point preps.

Shortly after the race, Caesars Sportsbook in Nevada shortened Citizen Bull from 22-1 to 16-1 in its Kentucky Derby futures book. Stablemate Barnes, who breezed Saturday, remained the 10-1 favorite on the strength of the money already bet on him since November.

The winning time was 1:36.71 in this second consecutive one-mile
running of the Bob Lewis. Originally known as the Santa Catalina, it had been 1
1/16 miles from 1964 to 2023.

This story will be updated.