Zayat yanks Cali colts out
 

Testy Ahmed Zayat takes Massive Drama, Maimonides and J Be K, and another, from Baffert to get out of California.. Going to Asmussen & Mott...

From Santa Anita press notes:

It was Massive Drama's last race out of Baffert's stable. Owner Ahmed Zayat has told Baffert he will be moving the colt and three others to Steve Asmussen and/or Bill Mott.

Baffert also was training Triple Crown candidates Maimonides, a $4.6 million son of 2002 champion 2-year-old colt Vindication, and J Be K, a $350,000 son of Silver Deputy. Zayat owns two other top 3-year-olds: Z Fortune and Z Humor.

"You never want to lose horses, but he's frustrated with California," Baffert said. "We've all suffered this winter with the missed days."

I feel terrible for Bob Baffert!

I was surprised he even had Maimonides back in Cali to begin with.

If could have had him at Ritz Carlton it wouldn't have mattered.

Didnt he move his ponies after a few weeks of the Del Mar meet?

J Be K is entered here at the Fairgrounds for friday running in Assmussens nam.e. Must have made the plane trip with Indian Blessing.

Steve,
Zayat seems like a pretty decent guy. I imagine he's more p.o.'d at himself for waiting so long to leave California than he is 'testy.'

Here's a blurb on how Maimonides got his name:

http://www.markankcorn.com/?p=311

Is his success getting to his head ?

Why because he doesn't want to keep his horses on an unpredictable surface that has caused dark days and loss of training? :rolleyes:

Good points. I raised the question for conversational purposes

Zayat's in a little bit of a groove right now with Asmussen and Mott so it made sense. If only he'd read my application to become his official horse namer I'd be thrilled.

NT

I'm not suggesting he isn't a decent guy.. Only that he obviously is a tad impetuous given the Del Mar incident last summer and this knee-jerk reaction. Here's Gomez' Massive Drama thoughts after yesterday:

“I was a little disappointed. We set decent enough fractions. After a half a mile, we quickened. But by the time I got to the top of the stretch, he was already emptied out on me. But he’s a talented little horse, and he’ll find something. I don’t think he’s a mile-and-a-quarter horse, but he’s definitely a nice little sprinter.”

Baffert has been bringing Maimonides and J Be K back, and now they end up in Bill Mott or Asmussen's barn? That's not particulary equitable...

Re: Maimonides.. He got a lot of press here last summer when he ran, with a local Maimonides Yeshiva bringing a busload of tatalahs to see him. He is supposed to be as gentle and pleasant as a horse can be and was great with the kids.

Mott gets Maimonides and EZ Warrior.

Asmussen gets J Be K.

Romans gets Massive Drama.

I hear you. Just seems that there's been nothing coming from the West to win much of anything for a while now. Maybe it changes but it doesn't look that way. And now, the 3 yo series there will have shorter fields of lesser colts.

I feel for Baffert but he's paying the price for not having a winter division at GP or FG or even Oaklawn. I just don't see how a trainer of 3 yo's can compete otherwise.

Zayat has invested a ton of money and has gotten better results with Assmussen, Mott and Romans (and Dutrow as well) than with Baffert. While I agree that it might have been "nicer" to make the switch before Baffert put all the time into Maimonides, it's a simple business decision. Zayat was dissatisfied with the Del Mar surface and asked Baffert to get them out of there. The move to NY was obviously successful. At that point, Zayat should have changed rather than return to Cali.
Nevertheless, Baffert has presumably been paid for training Maimonides up to now. Baffert is committed to Cali. It's his home an it's where he wants to be. That's his choice. If an owner wants out of Cali for whatever reason, he's no going to stay with Baffert. Zayat clearly finds leaving Cali more important than having Bob train his horses.

Makes sense to me.

Zayat pays his money.....he can make the choices he wants. And, when you throw in the synthetic debacle in California, there are more than mitigating circumstances here.

How come they didn't post it on facebook?

Bingo, Massive Drama has shown at least the last 2 times out that even 7 furlongs is a stretch for him. It's hard having a lot of money and emotional capital invested in a horse only to run up against the realities of the situation. He can not get the classic distances and is not Derby Quality. The cold realities will set in for many over the next 3 months.

Yeah as much as he'd like to stay in sunny Cali. he's going to have to move or change his training style.

Baff claimed he had maimonides pointed for the San Rafael, he wasn't
there. This weekend they ran the San Vicente, where was he? He might wait all year for an allowance to come up. Run him!