The $300,000, Grade 2 DK Horse San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park has traditionally been an important prep race on the Southern California road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, but it appears this year will be different.

Heavy morning-line favorite Nysos has been scratched, leaving the San Felipe with just four starters in the race, including two horses that are trained by Bob Baffert. Churchill Downs Inc. has extended its ban of any Baffert-trained horses from competing at its flagship track in Louisville through the upcoming spring-summer meet.

The 1 1/16-mile San Felipe offers qualifying points for the 150^th Kentucky Derby on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale, which means that the two non-Baffert horses in the starting gate for the 2024 San Felipe – Scatify and Mc Vay – are guaranteed to secure Derby points.

The San Felipe was originally scheduled for March 2 but was moved with the rest of Santa Anita’s Card to Sunday, March 3 due to a forecast of rain during the early weekend.

1. Scatify : Justify colt won first out at Los Alamitos in December and then set the early pace in the Feb. 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita before tiring and finishing third, 8 ¼ lengths behind Nysos but only three-quarters of a length behind runner-up Wine Me Up. Improvement in start number three can get him into the exacta worth 25 Derby points.

JOCKEY: Hector Berrios; TRAINER: John Sadler

2. Wine Me Up : Impressed in his debut last fall sprinting at Del Mar, but after that, he’s failed to break through in four consecutive graded stakes, finishing second twice behind stablemates Muth (in October) and Nysos (last out in the Robert B. Lewis) and eighth and fourth in the other two attempts. Seems to have plateaued as a member of Baffert’s second string.

JOCKEY: Juan Hernandez; TRAINER: Bob Baffert

3. Nysos (SCRATCHED): Nysos was scratched after originally being listed as the 1-5 favorite on the morning line odds in the San Felipe. Baffert has preliminarily indicated he will await the Santa Anita Derby for Nysos's next start.

JOCKEY: Flavien Prat; TRAINER: Bob Baffert

4. Mc Vay : Still a maiden after three starts, and despite being winless was entered in the Robert B. Lewis last out where he was one-paced and finished fourth, 12 ½ lengths behind Nysos. Figures to trail in fifth early on and will be hard-pressed to improve much from that position.

JOCKEY: Antonio Fresu; TRAINER: John Shirreffs

5. Imagination : Has yet to finish worse than second in any of his four starts. After winning his 2024 debut on New Year’s Day in a one-mile Santa Anita maiden race, he took the lead in the stretch during a one-mile allowance-optional claimer Feb. 11 at “the Great Race Place” only to float out late and then lose by a neck to another highly regarded Baffert trainee, Maymun. A logical exacta/trifecta filler in this race behind Nysos.

JOCKEY: Frankie Dettori; TRAINER: Bob Baffert

THE PICK: Scatify

TRIFECTA: 1-5