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Best Pal Stakes

DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA                                             SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2009

BEST PAL STAKES

$150,000, Grade II, 2-y-o, 6-1/2 f

GARRETT GOMEZ (Lookin At Lucky) – “Bob (trainer Bob Baffert) said he wanted to see this colt prove himself. Let him do his thing as he can. You saw him come back from this. He wasn’t frazzled, or anything like that. He looked like he’d gone out and jogged a mile. He’s very laid back. He’ll handle a distance, too. He’s a nice horse and I think he’s only going to get better.”

TYLER BAZE (Make Music for Me) – “That was a nice move he made around the turn and it tells you what kind of horse he’s going to be. He’s special. I worked him the other morning and I was really impressed. And he really doesn’t know what he’s doing yet. He’s going to go on from here. He’s a Futurity horse.”

RUSSELL BAZE (Smiling Tiger) – “I think the time between races for him (last start June 13) might have something to do with how he ran today. I’m not taking anything away from the two who finished ahead of us. They’re both nice horses. But my horse will do nothing but improve off this race. They asked me if I thought he should run back in the Futurity. I told them I think he belongs with this kind.”

BOB BAFFERT (Lookin At Lucky) -- “This is what dreams are made of. There’s nothing like good 2-year-olds in the barn. The good ones get ready on their own. When you have good ones, they take care of the bad ones. I’ve thought he had a lot of talent. You know, Garrett doesn’t say a lot about horses, but he’s always thought this one was good. We’ll be back in the [Del Mar] Futurity [Monday, September 7].”

FRACTIONS:  :22.28  :45.42  1:09.77  1:16.06

The Del Mar Futurity, a Grade I with a $300,000 purse, will be run at seven furlongs on Labor Day, Monday, September 7.

The stakes win was the second of the meet for Garrett Gomez and his first in the Best Pal. He now has 29 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the second of the meet for Bob Baffert and his seventh in the Best Pal. He now has 82 stakes victories at Del Mar, adding to his record total in that department.

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