Brant’s professionalism in the Sept. 7 Del Mar Futurity made the jump from a maiden race to a Grade 1 look much easier than it is. But then Bob Baffert knows how to prepare a horse for this race. After all, the trainer has now won it 19 times.

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That list includes Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah and champions Silver Charm, Lookin At Lucky, Game Winner, and Midshipman. So, it’s hard to know just where Brant will rank among that 19. Given how well he has answered any question put to him, anything is possible.

Even with the more seasoned Desert Gate — Brant’s stablemate on the Baffert barn and the winner of the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes — in the six-horse field bettors hammered Brant down to 1-10 favoritism in the seven-furlong Futurity. They were not wrong.

When the starting gate opened, Brant broke inward from post #2, bumping with Brigante slightly. It never threw him off stride. Jockey Flavien Prat was able to straighten Brant out immediately, and the colt willingly shot to the lead.

In his only other outing, Brant had raced in third early before scoring by 5 1/4 lengths. Jimmy Barnes, Baffert’s assistant, attributed the change in tactics to post position.

“I think with being pushed down toward the inside of the rail, he was going to be placed forwardly,” Barnes said.

Everyone knew Brant had speed — after all, he had breezed an eighth of a mile in :09.60 at the OBS March 2-year-olds in training sale, the fastest time of any horse in the catalog. And his speed seems effortless, as his Futurity fractions demonstrated. He zipped the first quarter-mile in :21.88, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of second-place Balboa.

Brant winning Del Mar Futurity Sunday at Del Mar. (Eclipse Sportswire)

“I let him get comfortable on the lead,” Prat said. “I was traveling very well, and I never felt like I was doing too much for him. He took a nice breather around the turn, enough to re-engage when that horse came outside of him.”

Prat was referring to Desert Gate, another of the four Baffert entries. Desert Gate was 2-for-2, his total winning margins 11 lengths, and he had Del Mar leading rider Juan Hernandez aboard.

Desert Gate put in a valiant effort in an attempt to catch Brant. He closed to within a length but could get no closer to Brant, who swept past the finish line in 1:21.92 for seven-eighths of a mile. Civil Liberty finished third, 3 1/4 lengths behind Desert Gate.

The Futurity is part of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Dozen, which provides a sliding scale of credits toward entry fees for the Breeders’ Cup for the first-, second-, and third-place finishers. Unlike the “Win and You’re In” races, Brant doesn’t receive a guaranteed entry into the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, but after that performance, he certainly won’t need one. Plus, with Brant and the likes of New York emerging stars Ted Noffey and It’s Our Time, an oversubscribed Juvenile field may not occur.

Zedan Racing Stables owns Brant, buying him at this year’s OBS March sale for the top price of $3 million from Eddie Woods’ consignment.

PTK LLC bred Brant in Kentucky from the Liam’s Map mare Tynan, a winner of two of 13 races before being retired. Brant is the first foal for Tynan, who is a half-sister [same dam (mother), different sire (father)] to stakes winners Pappacap and Boppy O. Brant is bred along the lines of Pappacap, who also was sired by champion and Hall of Famer Gun Runner.