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Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert had won the Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita eight times, but his chances going into this year's renewal of the Grade 1 event didn't look promising. He entered a trio of 3-year-olds against four older horses, none of them favored: last year's G1 Del Mar Futurity winner Gaming (who would be scratched); Privman, making his stakes debut and was off at 14-1; and Nevada Beach, winner of the Los Alamitos Derby June 28 and the 8-1 third choice behind odds-on favorite Full Serrano and multiple graded stakes winner First Mission.
In the end, the odds didn't matter. Nevada Beach, getting a cagey ride from Hall of Famer Mike Smith, who made a mid-race move to take on Full Serrano midway down the backstretch, emerged victorious, giving Baffert his ninth Goodwood (including the years it was known as the Awesome Again Stakes).
Hooking up with last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Full Serrano around the final turn, Nevada Beach put his head in front inside the eighth pole and inched away to victory by 1 1/2 lengths. Full Serrano held second, with Privman, who tried to put pressure on Full Serrano early, finishing third. They were followed by First Mission, sent to California by Brad Cox, Ultimate Gamble, and Express Train.
Nevada Beach ran the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.43. Fractional times set by Full Serrano were :23.58, :47.86, 1:11.63 and 1:36.12. Nevada Beach paid $19.
"Nevada Beach traveled beautifully," said Smith. "There were different strategies going into this race and Bob told me that he will go every bit of the mile and eighth so to do what I needed to do. I was brave enough to go ahead and push at the end there and the horse responded great.”
The Goodwood was a "Win and You're In" Challenge Series race, giving the winner an automatic fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 1. Baffert said that would be Nevada Beach's target.
Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Nevada Beach is a 3-year-old son of Omaha Beach (who Mike Smith also rode) out of the stakes-winning Yes It's True mare, Morrow Cove. He was bred in Kentucky by Paul Tackett Revocable Trust, Phil Tackett Estate & Christy Tackett and purchased from Paul Tackett for $260,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"We have always been really high on this horse, we had just little setbacks," Baffert said of Nevada Beach, who didn't debut until April 19 this year, winning a maiden race at Santa Anita, then finishing second in the Affirmed Stakes before winning the Los Alamitos Derby.
"Today he showed what he is made of," Baffert said. "Going into it, I knew he was going against Full Serrano, and I have a lot of respect for him. They were running hard. Turning for home I thought, ‘Well, this is when you find out what you are really made of.’ He dug in and Mike Smith rode a beautiful race.
"This one is really special," Baffert said. "I really appreciate wins like this when you don’t expect them."
Baffert's previous Goodwood victories came with Silver Charm (1998), Richard's Kid (2010), Game On Dude (2011-'12), Mubtaahij (2017), Improbable (2020), Medina Spirit (2021), and Defunded (2022). Smith won last year with Subsanador when it was run as the California Crown, in 2014 with Shared Belief, and in 2007 with Tiago.
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Sep 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.