BY BROCK SHERIDAN

Florida-bred Baby Yoda had a striking return to the races Friday as the 7-year-old gelding set a new track record at Aqueduct, covering six-and-a-half furlongs in 1:13.86 with Flavien Prat aboard. That smashed the old mark of 1:14.35 set by Coronado’s Quest in the 1997 Cowdin Stakes (G2).

Making his first start since finishing sixth in the $147,000 Fall Highweight won by Giant Mischief at Aqueduct on Nov. 29, Baby Yoda bested six other 3-year-olds and older in an upper level, $100,000 optional claiming.

Light Man and jockey Kendrick Carmouche broke on top from post seven then were promptly joined by Baby Yoda and Prat from post six in the initial strides. Baby Yoda and Light Man raced together through splits of :22.12 and :44.15 while three lengths clear of War Stride in third before Baby Yoda began to clear his arrivals past the quarter-mile marker.

Baby Yoda darted clear at the top of the stretch and was five-lengths in front past the eighth pole before gearing down to win by four-and-a-half lengths. War Stride was second by a neck with Light Man third. Twenty Four Mamba, Sheriff Bianco, Repo Rocks and Top Gunner finished in that order.

Trained by Hall of Famer conditioner Bill Mott, Baby Yoda paid $6.60 to win as the 2-1 favorite.

Baby Yoda earned $50,600 for owners Pantofel Stable LLC, Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber and Jerold L. Zaro, increasing his career bankroll to $937,320. He has now won 10 of 30 career starts with four seconds and four thirds.

A graded stakes winner of the 2024 True North (G2), Baby Yoda is by Prospective out of More Than Speed, by More Than Ready and was bred in Florida by Kathleen Amaya, Alexandro Centofanti and Raffaele Centofanti.

Baby Yoda was assigned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for Friday’s race for his third career triple digit Beyer number. He earned a 114 Beyer in his fourth start with a 1:14.33 clocking for six-and-a-half furlongs in an allowance race at Saratoga in September of 2021 and a 101 Beyer when covering the same distance in 1:14.62 in the aforementioned True North.

Return to the June 14 issue of Wire to Wire