DEL MAR — Philip Bauer got on a plane the other day and flew to San Diego, just as thousands of other people will do this week in advance of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar.
But only a handful of those people have a memory like the one that flashes into Bauer’s head each time he gets on a plane.
Not quite 10 months have passed since the trainer, his wife and eight others, including the pilot, survived a plane crash near the Australian beach resort of Lizard Island.
The group had been there “on a great vacation,” including scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, Bauer said Tuesday outside Barn DD at Del Mar, where his 2-year-old colt Jonathan’s Way was cooling down after his morning exercise in preparation for Friday’s $2 million Juvenile.
“It was an amazing trip,” said Bauer, 39. “And we were actually heading home, and the plane encountered some engine trouble (soon after takeoff), so we had to turn around and try to land without engine power.”
Bauer recalled the single-propeller Cessna light plane overshot the runway, though according to reports, it hit some trees during the descent and crash-landed short of the runway. The plane flipped upside down before coming to a full stop. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured.
“I think the people are very lucky to be alive,” the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s Stephanie Beatty told reporters at the time.
“It could have been a lot worse if it was a different situation,” Bauer said. “But the plane held together well enough that we could all walk away from it. Certainly a moment you think about a lot, especially every time you step back on a plane.”
Among the passengers was Bauer’s boss, owner/breeder Richard Rigney, along with his wife and teenage daughter, and bloodstock agent John Moynihan and his wife.
They’re all expected at Del Mar by Friday to watch Jonathan’s Way. The son of Vekoma, a $290,000 weanling purchase, has won his first two starts without really being tested, a maiden race at Saratoga and the Grade III Iroquois last month at Churchill Downs. He earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure in that race, third-best in the field for a race of at least a mile, behind East Avenue (95) and Chancer McPatrick (92).
Jonathan’s Way is the third choice on the morning line for the Juvenile at 9-2, behind East Avenue at 5-2 and Chancer McPatrick at 3-1. There are other promising 2-year-olds in the deep field, including three trained by Bob Baffert, but Bauer said of his colt, “This horse acts like he could be pretty special.”
This is the first trip to Del Mar for Bauer, who grew up in Louisville, but his third appearance in the Breeders’ Cup. Xigera ran last in the 2022 Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Buchu was sixth in the same race last year.
He said he’s learned lessons about how to “savor these moments” not just from the plane crash but from those previous races.
“When we ran in our first Breeders Cup, I think we put overwhelming pressure on ourselves to perform well, and she performed terribly,” he said. “So in hindsight, you look back and kind of kicked yourself for not enjoying the moment making it here. I mean, this is a big deal just to be here. Last year, we enjoyed it much better. And I think this year, you know, just to be here three years in a row, it’s not a given. So, yeah, you certainly appreciate it.”
That said, a win Friday might feel a little more special given how the year began.
“A lot of the people that were on the plane will be here,” Bauer said, “and hopefully we’re having a celebration.”
Sutcliffe gets a horse in the Cup
With the scratch of Out on Bail from the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Pali Kitten will come off the also-eligible list to start from the No. 12 post position. Pali Kitten is trained by Doug O’Neill and owned by a group that includes former major league pitcher and broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe and his wife Robin, who live just a few miles from Del Mar.
The Sutcliffes are new to thoroughbred ownership and Rick Sutcliffe compared getting the news Tuesday to when manager Walter Alston called him in 1976 to say the Dodgers were promoting him from Double-A Waterbury (Conn.) to the big leagues.
“My wife screamed, everything went crazy,” said Sutcliffe, a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. “When I got that text (with the news), it was like when I got the call from Walter Alston.”
Pali Kitten, a son of 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso, won the Speakeasy Stakes earlier this month at Santa Anita. His ownership group includes another San Diegan, James Cahill.
Another horse in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Governor Sam, also has a baseball connection: He is co-owned by Houston Astros star third baseman Alex Bregman.
Baffert scratches top filly
Oak Leaf Stakes winner Non Compliant, the third choice on the morning line for the $2 million Juvenile Fillies, has been scratched. No reason was given by Breeders’ Cup officials in announcing the move Tuesday afternoon. A field of nine remains, including the Baffert-trained long shot Nooni.