Tom Pedulla offers five takeaways from the $400,000 Santa Anita Handicap Presented by Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at Santa Anita Park on Sunday and two key Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve prep races on Saturday, the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park and the $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.

Newgate wins a thrilling Big ‘Cap. (BENOIT photo)

PATIENCE REWARDED: Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert always believed Newgate would develop into the good horse he was bred to be. His faith was rewarded when the 4-year-old son of Into Mischief, under a strong ride by Frankie Dettori, edged Subsanador by a desperate head to give his trainer his sixth “Big ‘Cap” triumph. Newgate produced his first Grade 1 victory in his initial attempt at the classic distance of a mile and a quarter. “We always thought he was going to be a better horse as he got older and we’ve been patient and (Sunday) was supposed to be his coming out party kind of race,” Baffert said.

John Sadler (BENOIT photo)

BOUNCING BACK: Expectations were high when Subsanador made his United States debut in the San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26 for trainer John Sadler. The Argentine-bred horse was bet down to 1.30-1 odds but was a major disappointment that day. He and jockey Flavien Prat found themselves last through the opening half-mile en route to finishing fourth of five runners. “He didn’t really get the trip we wanted,” Sadler said of the San Antonio. With Hector Berrios in the irons and riding him much more aggressively, Subsanador set the pace in the Santa Anita Handicap. While the 5-year-old was narrowly defeated, he showed he can be a force the remainder of the season.

CHANGE OF PLAN: Trainer Danny Gargan issued clear instructions to jockey Luis Saez before he gave him a leg up on Remsen Stakes winner Dornoch for the Fountain of Youth Stakes. He had been training the full brother to last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Mage, to sit off horses. He wanted to continue that education by having him sit off anticipated pacesetter Speak Easy. Everything changed, though, when Speak Easy broke loose during the post parade and suffered lacerations after skimming the rail. With Speak Easy scratched, Gargan was able to convey a change of plan to Saez. “Just go ahead and go,” he told him. Dornoch appeared to be in control throughout, prevailing by a length and three-quarters, but an important teaching moment was lost.

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VAST POTENTIAL: Kentucky Derby winners typically combine immense physical talent with mental maturity. Dornoch possesses plenty of raw ability, as he showed when he toyed with a depleted Fountain of Youth field, but the mental side remains very much a work in progress. “He gets out there and he plays around. You can see him with his ears kind of goofing off,” Danny Gargan said. Exercise rider Priscilla Schaefer, who has been aboard Dornoch since he arrived in the barn as a 2-year-old, believes he is just scratching at the surface of what he can do. “I don’t think we’ve seen half of what he is yet,” she said. “There is a lot more to come, even past May. He’s the type of horse who is going to keep getting better and better.”

Deterministic (Dom Napolitano/NYRA)

EXCITING TIME: Christophe Clement, a finalist for the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame this year, knows what it feels like to win a Triple Crown race. The trainer sent out Tonalist to victory in the 2014 Belmont Stakes, the most prominent among many major races he has won. But Clement has never saddled a Kentucky Derby starter, something that might well change after Deterministic came off a seven-month layoff to control the Gotham Stakes by two lengths and secure 50 Derby qualifying points. While that is typically more than enough to earn a place in the Churchill Downs starting gate, Clement is unwilling to look that far ahead. “If he was to go that route, it would be very exciting,” the trainer said. “At the moment, we need to evaluate a next start.”