3/26/26 Barn Notes
Compiled by Robert Yates
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said he hopes a different approach leads to a different outcome for Grade 2 winner Litmus Test, who is entered in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) Saturday at Oaklawn.
Litmus Test has made only one start this year, finishing third in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) March 1 under two-time Eclipse Award winner Flavien Prat. Litmus Test, as the 3-2 favorite, was beaten 5 ¼ lengths after leading most of the race. The 1 1/16-mile Rebel was Oaklawn’s final major local prep for the Arkansas Derby, a race the Southern California-based Baffert has won a record-tying five times.
Baffert’s horses normally return home after the Rebel to prepare for their next starts (10 have run in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby), but Litmus Test remained at Oaklawn under the initial care of trainer Dan Ward.
“I didn’t want to bring him all the way back here and then go back again,” Baffert said. “He’s a lighter made kind of horse and so I thought the best chance would have been for him to stay there and acclimate a little bit to that track. He’s going to have to move up. He’s got to move up. He’s got to run better than he did last time. His best chance to win was to stay there.”
Baffert has worked Litmus Test twice since the Rebel, half-mile drills in :48.80 March 14 and :48.40 last Saturday. Two-time Oaklawn riding champion Francisco Arrieta was aboard for the March 14 work and will ride Litmus Test for the first time in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby. Baffert said he’s never ridden Arrieta, who has won 17 stakes races the last two seasons at Oaklawn.
“Hear a lot of good things about him and he knows the track,” Baffert said. “He worked the horse for me and that’s why I thought I would use him. Last time, Prat said he had the 1 hole and so it sort of forced his hand. He needs a target to run at. That (going to the lead) is not his style.”
The Arkansas Derby has nine entrants, with Litmus Test drawing post 9. The son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is 5-1 on the morning line.
Litmus Test will also be racing without blinkers for the first time in a six-race career that includes a victory in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) Dec. 13 at Los Alamitos and a fourth-place finish, beaten just 1 ¼ lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Oct. 31 at Del Mar. Both races were 1 1/16 miles.
“I’ve been wanting to take them off and the blinkers I use are very small, anyway,” Baffert said. “He got a little rank the last time. We’ll see, but he didn’t have much blinker on, anyway.”
Baffert won the Arkansas Derby in 2012 with Bodemeister, 2015 with American Pharoah, divisions in 2020 with Charlatan and Nadal and 2024 with Muth. American Pharoah and Nadal also won the Rebel. American Pharoah went on to sweep the Triple Crown en route to 2015 Horse of the Year honors.
Finish Lines
First post for Saturday’s 14-race card, highlighted by the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1), is 11:35 a.m. (Central). … There is no racing Sunday. ... Next-race plans are pending for Peignoir following her victory in last Saturday’s $135,000 Lapatourel Overnight Stakes for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles, trainer Rodolphe Brisset said in a text message Monday. Brisset said “everything (is) in play” the next four to five weeks for Peignoir, who received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 83 for her first career stakes victory. … Next-race plans are also pending for millionaire Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown and Sneaky Good, trainer Brad Cox said Wednesday afternoon. Saudi Crown won a “Ratings Handicap” March 5 in his 2026 debut. Sneaky Good, in her last start, finished third in the $750,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies March 1. The Honeybee was Oaklawn’s second Kentucky Oaks qualifying race. … Entries will be accepted and post positions drawn Friday for the $150,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes for accredited Arkansas-bred 3-year-old fillies. The 6-furlong race is April 3. … Trainer Chris Hartman enters Thursday with 290 career Oaklawn victories, including 14 this season. Hartman was Oaklawn’s leading trainer in 2015. … Trainer Genaro Garcia, who has a string of horses this season at Oaklawn, enters Thursday with 997 career North American victories, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.
