Photo:

Shamela Hanley / Eclipse Sportswire

Citizen Bull seized the 2-year-old spotlight when his pace-setting score gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his record sixth victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Count on savvy handicappers to look elsewhere for the next Kentucky Derby winner.

Overall, history has not been kind to Juvenile winners, with only 2006 victor Street Sense and 2015 winner Nyquist going on to Derby success. Baffert’s record is shockingly poor. Game Winner is the only one of his first five to make the Derby, where he finished a troubled fifth in 2018.

Vindication, who won in 2002, and New Year’s Day in 2013 never competed again after the Juvenile. Midshipman, 2008, and Corniche, 2021, never ran again for Baffert, and neither accomplished anything significant after reaching the head of the class in the Juvenile.

Here is a closer look at how Baffert’s Juvenile winners have fared:

Vindication, 2002: Padua Stables acquired Vindication for $2.15 million as a yearling. He justified their confidence by sweeping all four of his starts at 2, including a commanding 2 3/4-length victory in the Juvenile. At one point, an excited Baffert called him the best 2-year-old he had trained. No one will ever know what his 3-year-old campaign might have brought. After he injured a suspensory ligament during a January workout, no effort was spared in an effort to get him back. He received stem cells and spent time in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. He resumed training in August but not for long. It soon was announced that there was not enough time for Baffert to have him ready for the Oct. 25 Classic, and he was retired.

Midshipman, 2008. Baffert is accustomed to having elite horses come his way. In this case, one was taken from him. Sheikh Mohammed, who had obtained the colt in a private purchase before the Juvenile, decided to prepare him for the Triple Crown races in Dubai. Midshipman sustained a soft-tissue injury the following March that sidelined him until mid-September. Midshipman made four starts for trainer Saeed bin Suroor after the Juvenile. His third-place effort in the Dirt Mile as a sophomore was the only result of note.

New Year’s Day, 2013. Was the fast track to success too fast for this Street Cry colt? After breaking his maiden in his second start, it was on to the Juvenile, where he teamed with Martin Garcia, now of Citizen Bull fame, to reach the winner’s circle by 1 1/4 lengths. New Year’s Day never raced in the new year. It was announced Dec. 26 that he had a non-displaced chip in his left hind sesamoid, and he was retired. Bob Glass, the agent for owners Gary and Mary West, said Baffert told him he did not want to have to hold his breath every time the horse breezed.

Game Winner, 2018. This is the only one of Baffert’s Juvenile winners to make the hoped-for progression to the Derby. After enjoying a 4-for-4 Juvenile campaign that included a conquest of future star Knicks Go in the Juvenile, Game Winner prepped for the Derby by placing second in the Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn Park and in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). He ran a respectable fifth despite various woes in the run for the roses. He did not compete in either of the final two legs of the Triple Crown. He injured the high suspensory in his left front leg while winning the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) in mid-July and was retired.

Corniche, 2021. The Quality Road colt displayed brilliance at 2. His sizzling 3-for-3 start included a victory in the American Pharoah (G1) as a prelude to his Juvenile success. With Baffert embroiled in what became a prolonged dispute with Churchill Downs because of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s positive drug test for a banned substance, Corniche was transferred to Todd Pletcher in early May. He made one start for Pletcher, in the Amsterdam (G2) at the end of July. He stumbled at the start and jockey Luis Saez eventually eased him as he finished last of nine. He was retired a month later with an injured hind joint.