Everything came together for Speed Boat Beach in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Making his third start off a layoff at seven furlongs, a distance he perhaps prefers, and reunited with jockey Flavien Prat, Speed Boat Beach led through much of the Malibu to post a very smart 1 ½-length victory over Hejazi. That gave trainer Bob Baffert a one-two finish and a record-equaling sixth Malibu Stakes win. 

“I think seven-eighths is better for him because they’re not going to be going :21 3/5,” Baffert said.

The Grade 1, $300,000 Malibu was the headliner in an opening-day card featuring five other graded stakes, all Grade 2 or higher.

Back on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita, Speed Boat Beach had to shave :22 for a quarter-mile when setting the pace in the six-furlong Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint in only his second start after a break of more than nine months. He was facing his elders and the best sprinters in the country that day, and he ran a creditable fourth behind champion Elite Power.

The Malibu not only is seven furlongs, it is a final opportunity for 3-year-olds to stick with their own age group. Baffert entered Speed Boat Beach, Hejazi, and Fort Bragg, and the field included such shippers as Giant Mischief, trained by Brad Cox.

As it turned out, Baffert himself provided Speed Boat Beach with his biggest challenge. Favored at odds of 8-5, Speed Boat Beach outbroke the field, but Hejazi went right with him. Hejazi grabbed the lead and was responsible for the first fraction, a quarter-mile in :22.21. Though right with the pace, Speed Boat Beach relaxed for Prat, something Baffert said they had been working on with the colt.

“His issue is that he has always been very aggressive,” Baffert said. “He’s aggressive in the mornings and aggressive in his races.”

Victorious horse and rider. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Racing inside of Hejazi, Speed Boat Beach dueled with his stablemate down the backstretch and took the lead in the turn. Speed Boat Beach set the rest of the fractions, getting a half-mile in :44.42 and six furlongs in 1:08.65.

“I got him to relax and we took a little breather,” Prat said. “Around the turn, he really went well. He didn’t mind being on the inside.”

The two Baffert runners battled through the stretch, leading Baffert to say later, “Turning for home I knew I was going to win it – I wasn’t sure which one it was going to be.”

Though Hejazi didn’t give up, Speed Boat Beach wouldn’t allow him past, winning in a final time of 1:21.70 on a fast track. It was three lengths back to third-place Giant Mischief, who earned his first Grade 1 placing, followed by Damon’s Mound, Raise Cain, Fort Bragg, and Sharp Aza Tack.

Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, who co-own Speed Boat Beach with Mike Pegram, joined the crowd in the winner’s circle to accept the trophy. They know a few things about running a good sprinter, as Baffert also trained Midnight Lute for the same ownership to win two Breeders’ Cup Sprints and earn an Eclipse Award as champion sprinter. A few years later, their Secret Circle won the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint before taking the Sprint two years later.

“That was awesome,” Watson said in the winner’s circle Tuesday. “We’ve been lucky. He got the seven furlongs – I was a little worried.”

Baffert’s sixth Malibu win tied trainer Richard Mandella. Previously, Baffert won it with Taiba in 2022, Charlatan in 2020, McKinzie in 2018, Shakin It Up in 2013, and The Factor in 2011.

In the other graded stakes Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, Daddysruby led at every point of call and was all out to hold off fellow California-bred Big Pond by a nose in the $300,000, Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs, fellow 3-year-old lass Anisette got back to her winning ways after finishing second twice by taking the $300,000, Grade 1 American Oaks on turf, French-bred grass runner Easter won his third consecutive stakes in the $200,000, Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes, Newgrange tallied his fourth career graded stakes win in the $200,000, Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes for dirt routers, and Watsonville edged favorite Almendares by a nose in the $200,000, Grade 2 Santa Anita Mathis Mile Stakes, a turf test for 3-year-olds.