Improbable, who will enter stud at WinStar Farm in 2021, continued his march to the Breeders’ Cup with a 4 1/2-length win in the $300,000 Awesome Again S. (G1) Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
The dominant victory earned the colt owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club International and SF Racing his second win in a Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) challenge series race this year, previously earning a spot with his win in the Aug. 1 Whitney (G1) at Saratoga. Prior to that he won Gold Cup (G1) at Santa Anita.
The win was Improbable’s fourth career Grade 1 score and upped his record to 7-3-0 in 14 starts, with earnings of $1,709,520.
At the break, there was a four-way scramble for the lead, with Improbable and jockey Drayden Van Dyke trailing the five-horse field. Van Dyke let Improbable drop a half-dozen lengths from the front down the backside, then began his charge midway around the turn. He swept to the lead coming into the stretch and overwhelmed his competition in the lane, with Maximum Security his closest pursuer all the way to the wire.
“I knew I was coming in here with two really good horses,” his trainer Bob Baffert said. “Maximum Security was in that scrum and they were really running up close. I saw Drayden, he knew what was happening, so he just sat back. He rode a great race, he knew what was going on, he took his time, rode him with patience. He’s had good luck with this horse. He loves this track. He seems to be better in the gate here, that’s why we ran him here. I hate to see my horses have to beat the other horse, but today it was all about Improbable.”
Improbable, a son of the late City Zip, is from the same family as Grade 1 winner and noted sire Hard Spun through his third dam Turkish Tryst.
