Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg finished third in his career debut in September 2022 at Del Mar. He showed significant improvement in his second race a month later at Santa Anita Park when stretching out from a sprint to one mile, as Fort Bragg crossed the finish line 1 ½ lengths clear but was disqualified for interference in the stretch.

The Tapit colt earned his first official victory in his third start when he led from start to finish for a three-quarter-length win in a 1 1/16-mile race Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

Tested for the first time against stakes competition in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, Fort Bragg finished a distant third behind Practical Move in December in his final start as a 2-year-old. Because he was trained by Bob Baffert at the time, Fort Bragg did not earn qualifying points toward the 2023 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve as Baffert is ineligible to compete at Churchill Downs until the end of the 2023 spring meet because of Medina Spirit’s medication violation in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Fort Bragg made his 3-year-old bow and first start for new trainer Tim Yakteen in the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes March 4 at Santa Anita and finished fifth behind familiar rival Practical Move. He earned five points toward qualifying for the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Fort Bragg shipped to Gulfstream Park for another stakes try on April 1 in the Grade 1 $1 million Florida Derby, and once again finished fifth. He earned 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.