Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg finished third in his career debut in September 2022 at Del Mar. He showed significant improvement in his second race a month later at Santa Anita Park when stretching out from a sprint to one mile, as Fort Bragg crossed the finish line 1 ½ lengths clear but was disqualified for interference in the stretch.

The Tapit colt earned his first official victory in his third start when he led from start to finish for a three-quarter-length win in a 1 1/16-mile race Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

Tested for the first time against stakes competition in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, Fort Bragg finished a distant third behind Practical Move in December in his final start as a 2-year-old. Because he was trained by Bob Baffert at the time, Fort Bragg did not earn qualifying points toward the 2023 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve as Baffert is ineligible to compete at Churchill Downs until the end of the 2023 spring meet because of Medina Spirit’s medication violation in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Fort Bragg made his 3-year-old bow and first start for new trainer Tim Yakteen in the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes March 4 at Santa Anita and finished fifth behind familiar rival Practical Move. He earned five points toward qualifying for the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Fort Bragg shipped to Gulfstream Park for another stakes try on April 1 in the Grade 1 $1 million Florida Derby, and once again finished fifth. He earned 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Instead of the Kentucky Derby, Fort Bragg was pointed to the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard on May 6, and finished second in that spot when beaten a neck by General Jim.

Fort Bragg was reunited with original trainer Bob Baffert and kept at one mile on the main track for his next start, which came in the Grade 3 $200,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park on July 1. Fort Bragg raced just off the pace chasing very fast fractions in the Dwyer and then challenging front runner Saudi Crown and eventually prevailing by a nose after a head and head battle that lasted the entire stretch run.