Taiba wins $1 million Pennsylvania Derby for Baffert

Taiba won the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby for trainer Bob Baffert. Mike Smith won for the third time. Taiba will be pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November. He had a rough trip in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth in July.

This weekend's racing features the Champagne Stakes and the Miss Grillo Stake. Todd Pletcher has won the champagne six times and Chad Brown has been the winning trainer 8 times in the 14 runnings of the race since 2008. Four 2-year-old fillies have won Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf since the first running of that race in 2008: Maram, Lady Eli, New Money Honey and Newspaperofrecord. The coverage begins on NBC at 4 pm ET on Saturday. The winner of both races is usually trained by a high-quality and expensive barn.

Taiba wins $1 million Pennsylvania Derby for Baffert. Todd Pletcher has won the Champagne Stakes a record-setting six times since 2004. Chad Brown has been the winning trainer 8 times in the 14 runnings of the Miss Grillo since 2008.

The Champagne Stakes is one of the two "Win and You're In" races for the 2022 Breeders' Cup. Brad Cox is the trainer of Verifying, who won at Saratoga. Steve Asmussen is closing in on 10,000 career wins. Chad Brown has won the Champ champagne in 3 of last 6 years. Blazing Sevens is a son of Good Magic, the 2017 Breeder's Cup Juvenile winner. Todd Pletcher will not enter Forte in the race, because he plans to enter him in BreedERS' Futurity next Saturday at Keeneland.

2021 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox is likely to start Verifying. Steve Asmussen will send out Gulfport, a very impressive son of Uncle Mo. Chad Brown has won the Champagne in 3 of the last 6 runnings. Blazing Sevens is a son from Good Magic, the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. Forte, trained by Todd Pletcher, will not enter in the race. He will enter the horse in Breeder”s Futurity next Saturday at Keeneland.

Chad Brown is likely to enter Free Look in the Miss Grillo Stakes. Be Your Best and Pleasant Passage are also to watch. The horses are lightly-raced 2-year-olds. They are running for something other than purse money. They will win their way into two Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday. It is hard to predict outcomes with lightly raced 2 year old horses.

Gulfstream Park announced the schedule for the 2022-23 Championship Meet. The Pegasus World Cup Invitational is on January 28. Gulfstream’s Championship meet runs from Dec. 26 through April 2. It features 60 stakes races worth a combined $13.6 million. The $1 million Florida Derby will be run on April 1. Other top 3-year-old preps at Gulf Stream in early 2023 include the $150,000 Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 1, the $250,00 Holy Bull on Feb. 4 and the £400, 000 Fountain of Youth on March 4.