HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Arabian Knight has initially emerged from his tour-de-force run in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Saturday at Oaklawn Park in fine fashion and likely will have a good amount of time between now and his next start, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday. The horse is scheduled to return to his Santa Anita base Tuesday, the trainer said. Arabian Knight improved his record to 2 for 2 in the Southwest, which came nearly three months after his outstanding debut in a maiden special weight race over seven furlongs Nov. 5 at Keeneland. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97 for the more-than-seven-length romp. Arabian Knight put up a 96 Beyer at Oaklawn for his 5 1/2-length victory in the slop, which came under regular rider John Velazquez. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. “He’s a horse I kind of want to give him plenty of time in between races,” Baffert said Sunday. “When he runs he puts in a big effort. I’m really not in a rush with him.” Arabian Knight was making his two-turn debut in the Southwest and set the pace before going on to cover the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.50. “When we ran him the first time at Keeneland, Johnny told me he could have gone a mile that day,” Baffert said. “You’re always questioning the two turns and you really don’t know until they do it. I’ve had horses I definitely thought would go two turns and they didn’t. Yesterday, when he came to the quarter pole, I said, ‘I hope he doesn’t hit that imaginary wall.’ All of the sudden, he just broke through it. I said, ‘I’m okay. I’m okay.’” Baffert trains Arabian Knight, a $2.3 million son of Uncle Mo, for Zedan Racing Stables. “He came back like you want him to, ate up everything,” Baffert said. “That’s a good sign.” Baffert said he was saddling a horse at Oaklawn on Saturday for the first time since 2011. The track has built a hotel, expanded its casino, and opened a new sports bar on the first floor in that time. Despite wet conditions, the ontrack crowd was an estimated 27,000. “It was nice to see the fans,” Baffert said. “The fans were just really knowledgeable. They know their horses there. They love horse racing.” Red Route One closed from last for second in the Southwest, one start after finishing a troubled fourth in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs. He earned a career-high Beyer of 87 on Saturday. Trainer Steve Asmussen said Sunday that Red Route One would most likely run back in the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn. He trains the son of Gun Runner and Red House – who is a full sister to champion Untapable – for breeder Winchell Thoroughbreds. “He’s a very exciting horse - physically, family, everything,” Asmussen said Sunday. “He’s going to go as far as they run a race and he’s getting strong at the right time. We’ll see what we can get done with him.” Last year, Red Route One ran third to eventual champion Forte in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Frosted Departure ran third in the Southwest, one start after winning the $150,000 Renaissance over six furlongs at Oaklawn. He raced in second until the late stages under jockey Francisco Arrieta. “He’s just really brave,” trainer Kenny McPeek said Sunday. “We were hoping to break on the lead and try to slow the pace down a little bit, and, of course, [Arabian Knight] is so fast. But, my horse just kept fighting, and I thought Arrieta did a really good job getting him in the clear and keeping his face clean, because the horse is a little quirky about that. But he kept fighting on right to the end there. He ran super. I was really pleased.” McPeek said Frosted Departure would likely make his next start in the Rebel. “He kind of reminds of that horse I had years ago, Noble’s Promise, who was a good, hard-trying colt himself,” McPeek said. “In all likelihood he’ll stay here and run back in the Rebel. I think he likes this racetrack, and he did show he somewhat fits with the top 3-year-olds. He’s got to show some improvement to think he’s a Triple Crown horse, but he’s certainly gutsy and we’ll continue to go on with him.” McPeek trainee Sun Thunder was fourth in the Southwest. “I think he wants a drier racetrack,” McPeek said. “We chased a little in the middle of the race. [Red Route One] came from so far back and [maybe] we should have been further back to let him make one run. “We’ve got to figure out next stop with him. He’s a nice horse. He needs to show some improvement. He can do that. He’ll definitely be nominated to the Risen Star [at Fair Grounds], the Rebel, and I may nominate him to the Turfway races. It’s still wide open with him.” Trainer Brad Cox sent out a pair of stakes winners in the Southwest in Jace’s Road, who was fifth, and Corona Bolt, who finished sixth. Jace’s Road was coming off a win in the Gun Runner at Fair Grounds. Corona Bolt brought a 2-for-2 record into the race, and was the second choice off his win in the Sugar Bowl at Fair Grounds. “Both of them came out of it fine from a soundness standpoint,” Cox said Sunday. “Obviously we didn’t quite get the result we were looking for. Jace’s Road looked like he was in a great position, had an opportunity to go after them at the three-eighths, and just kind of didn’t really go forward. That was his second run on an off track. He didn’t perform real well on it last time, but he was never involved in it last time. Yesterday, he was a little more involved, looked like he was traveling well. He just didn’t really finish up like we were hoping.” :: DRF Bets players have exclusive access to FREE DRF Past Performances - Classic or Formulator! Join today.  Cox said Jace’s Road would likely ship back to Fair Grounds. “We’ll try to find another Derby prep that hopefully goes better and maybe we’ll get back on a fast track,” he said. Corona Bolt was stretching out around two turns under Flavien Prat. “He was never really involved,” Cox said. “Didn’t break very well yesterday, didn’t really take Flavien where we thought he would be going into the first turn. He was down on the inside and never offered a whole lot of run. Young horse, first time two turns – I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t like a wet track. We won’t put a whole lot of stock in that race. I don’t think it was a true read. I wouldn’t totally write him off with distance based on that run yesterday.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.