Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Baeza

Baeza is one of the first horses sired by McKinzie, who won at the graded stakes level every year from age two through age five. A versatile runner who nabbed four Grade 1 prizes over distances from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, McKinzie never won over the Kentucky Derby’s testing 1 1/4-mile distance—quite unlike his sire, Street Sense, winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby. However, McKinzie did record runner-up finishes in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and Santa Anita H. (G1), racing 1 1/4 miles.

Since McKinzie’s first foals are young three-year-olds, it’s too early to say whether he can sire top-level winners over classic distances. But his stud career is off to a promising start. Already he’s sired Chancer McPatrick, winner of the seven-furlong Hopeful (G1) and one-mile Champagne (G1); Scottish Lassie, runaway winner of the one-mile Frizette (G1); Quickick, runner-up in the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades (G1); McKinzie Street, a top-three finishers in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity (G1) and 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah (G1); and Cyclone State, winner of the one-mile Jerome S. on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Clearly, McKinzie is churning out high-class racehorses with regularity. The same can be said of Baeza’s dam, Puca, who has already made history as one of only nine mares to sire two winners of U.S. Triple Crown races.

Puca is a daughter of Big Brown out of Boat’s Ghost. Big Brown was voted champion three-year-old male of 2008 after winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness (G1), Florida Derby (G1), and Haskell (G1). While not a superstar stallion, Big Brown has sired a few high-profile winners through the years, including 2015 Santa Anita Derby winner and Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Dortmund. Thanks to Puca, Big Brown is also enjoying success as a broodmare sire.

As for Boat’s Ghost, a runner-up finish in the Prairie Meadows Debutante S. was her biggest claim to fame as a racehorse. She’s found greater success as a broodmare, most notably foaling Finnegans Wake, a classy turf horse who won the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1), San Marcos (G2), San Gabriel (G2), Hollywood Turf Cup (G2), and Arlington H. (G3) over distances from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/2 miles.

Puca is the second stakes winner produced by Boat’s Ghost, and she ranks as one of Big Brown’s better runners. Her stakes triumph came in the Steve Pini Memorial S. on turf at Suffolk Downs, but she was also a decent dirt horse, finishing second in the Gazelle (G2) and competing in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

As a broodmare, however, Puca has soared to another level entirely.

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Puca’s first foal, Gunning, won three minor races and placed in a couple of stakes racing seven furlongs and one mile. Her second foal, Mage, developed from an unraced maiden into the 2023 Kentucky Derby winner in barely more than three months. In addition to his Derby triumph, Mage recorded top-three finishes in the Preakness, Haskell, and Florida Derby, demonstrating consistent prowess racing 1 1/8 miles and farther.

Puca’s third foal, Dornoch, scaled even greater heights. His signature victory came in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont (G1), but he also won the Haskell, Remsen (G2), and Fountain of Youth (G2) over distances from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles.

For Baeza, the fact that McKinzie is unproven as a sire of classic winners is a non-concern thanks to the stellar produce record of Puca. Classic distances should absolutely be within reach for Baeza, and there’s a chance he’ll place Puca in the history books as the first mare to produce three U.S. classic winners.

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