Nevada Beach went into the Grade 1 $300,000 Goodwood Stakes Sept. 27 at Santa Anita Park as the least experienced of the six horses in the race. He came out of it a grade 1 winner with an automatic Breeders' Cup Challenge Series "Win and You're In" berth into the $7 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

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Trainer Bob Baffert doesn't hesitate to jump a horse up in class several rungs at a time if he feels the horse is ready. He took just such a chance with Nevada Beach, who was making only his fourth lifetime start.

The 1 1/8-mile Goodwood was supposed to showcase older horses like Full Serrano, the winner of last year's Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, and First Mission, a multiple graded stakes winner trained by Brad Cox. Instead, it was Nevada Beach who emerged as a rising star.

"Going into it, I knew he was going against Full Serrano, and I have a lot of respect for him," Baffert said.

Full Serrano set the early pace in reasonable fractions for the first quarter mile in :23.58 and a half-mile in :47.86. Mike Smith sat in second aboard Nevada Beach. He pressured Full Serrano on the backstretch and dueled with him around the second turn. Nevada Beach gamely battled with the more experienced Full Serrano in the stretch and pulled away late to score by 1 1/2 lengths in a time of 1:48.43. Privman finished 3 1/4 lengths back in third, followed by First Mission in fourth.

"Nevada Beach traveled beautifully," Smith said. "Bob told me that he will go every bit of the mile and an eighth so to do what I needed to do."

Baffert trains Nevada Beach for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. The owners are longtime clients of Baffert and bought Nevada Beach in the name of The Three Amigos for $260,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Nevada Beach did not run as a 2-year-old, making his first start in April. He won a maiden race, finished second in the June 8 $100,000 Affirmed Stakes and won the June 28 $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby.

"I just took my time with him. We've always thought he was a really good horse. I almost took him to Parx (for the Pennsylvania Derby). When Nysos wasn't going to run here, I decided to run him here."

City of Hope Win Gives Johannes Another Shot in Breeders' Cup Mile

Johannes swooped past his rivals in the stretch to capture his second consecutive Grade 2 $200,000 City of Hope Mile Stakes Sept. 27 at Santa Anita Park.

Johannes. (Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire)

The City of Hope is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series "Win and You're In" event offering an automatic, fees-paid berth for Johannes into the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF. The win should set-up Johannes well for another try at Breeders' Cup glory after he finished second in the Mile last year.

Now a 5-year-old, Johannes faced five rivals in the 2025 City of Hope, two fewer than last year. He was bet down to 1-5 odds on the tote board.

Johannes settled into mid-pack early for jockey Umberto Rispoli while chasing splits of :22.70 and :47.47. Johannes was eager to be let loose and revved up three wide heading into the stretch for a clear path to catch the leaders. From there, Johannes powered home to a 1 1/4-length victory over Cabo Spirit in 1:34.13. Almendares closed from last to finish a head behind Cabo Spirit in third.

The victory gave trainer Tim Yakteen what he wanted for Johannes.

"You don't want those exhausting efforts that don't allow you to come back," Yakteen said. "Five weeks between races is great timing-wise and sort of sets us up for the same schedule that we had last year. He's a trainer's dream."