Baela A Turf Filly On The Ascent For The Baffert’s, Wins 2nd Straight In 6 Furlong Allowance Sunday At Santa Anita

__BAELA A TURF FILLY ON THE ASCENT FOR THE BAFFERT’S, WINS 2ND STRAIGHT IN 6 FURLONG ALLOWANCE SUNDAY AT SANTA ANITA __

ARCADIA, CA (Jan. 18, 2026)—Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is known almost exclusively for his work with dirt horses—as evidenced by his record 17 wins in Triple Crown races—but occasionally a good turf horse will ascend the Baffert barn. That could be the case with Baela.

In a six-furlong allowance going six furlongs on turf Sunday at Santa Anita, Baela broke on the lead from the outside post and was never headed on her way to a half-length victory under jockey Juan Hernandez. She was the 9-5 favorite in a field nine fillies and mares. Dare to Fly (2-1), ridden by Umberto Rispoli, rallied to be second with Helga Brandt (14-1) following in third.

Baela is trained by Baffert and owned by his wife, Jill Baffert. The 4-year-old filly by City of Light is now 3-for-4 on the lawn in five overall starts. In her lone try on dirt, she ran in the GIII Chillingworth Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs at Santa Anita in October and finished a distant fifth.

“I tried her in the stakes and she didn’t run well,” Baffert said. “She’s turf and getting better. She ran fast.”

Baela won in a sharp time of 1:08.34 after setting fractions of 22.38, 45.06 and 56.57. Hernandez has been aboard Baela for all three of her wins.

“She broke really fast out of the gate and I knew we had to do that because we were way outside,” Hernandez said. “I wanted to break good and get early position to try and save ground. She did everything on her own. She was kind of waiting on horses at end, but she always looked like a winner. Bob said to ride her with a lot of confidence.”

Baela paid $5.80, $3.00 and $2.60. Dare to Fly, trained by Phil D’Amato, returned $2.80 and $2.20. Helga Brandt, with Diego Herrera aboard for trainer Carla Gaines, paid $5.60.

Live racing resumes at Santa Anita Monday with a special nine-race Holiday program starting at 12:30 p.m. To add to the festivities, fans will be treated to $2 beers, $2 hot dogs and $2 sodas. For more information, please visit santaainta.com.