$750,000 Southwest Stakes, Jan. 28, 2023 [20 qualifying points for first (not awarded), 8 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, and 2 for fifth] Winner: Arabian Knight, by Uncle Mo Trainer: Bob Baffert Jockey: John Velazquez Owner: Zedan Racing Stables Distance / time: 1 1/16 miles / 1:43.50 (sloppy, sealed) Win margin: 5 1/2 Beyer: 96 When you get young, lightly raced horses competing on a sloppy, sealed surface like the one in the Southwest, you often don’t learn as much about them as you’d like. And as for the race’s runaway winner, ARABIAN KNIGHT, we already knew he was an elite talent. This only provided affirmation. Connections showed off their $2.3 million 2-year-old auction buy, sending Arabian Knight from California to make his career debut at Keeneland on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, when he crushed a colt named Determinedly, who returned to win a Churchill Downs maiden by more than seven lengths. It wasn’t only the race giving evidence: Arabian Knight’s morning work looked phenomenal. A second-time starter going from a maiden race to a stakes, from one turn to two, shipping halfway across the country, and he goes off the 2-5 favorite? That’s strong, yet Arabian Knight lived up to the hype.  Arabian Knight broke sharply from post 6, generating impressive power, getting quickly into full stride. Inside him, FROSTED DEPARTURE’s jockey came out like he was riding a Quarter Horse, urging his mount to make the lead. John Velazquez on Arabian Knight barely moved a muscle, yet it was his colt going faster, clearing Frosted Departure before the seven-furlong marker, though Velazquez chose not to go down to the fence, keeping Arabian Knight three to four paths wide down the backstretch. The opening quarter-mile, 22.98, was more sprint-paced than route. Arabian Knight nonetheless clipped along comfortably. Frosted Departure crept closer to the leader around the far turn and applied mild pressure past the three-furlong pole, but Arabian Knight still was making easy work of it. In upper stretch he changed leads on cue, got one right-handed pop of Velazquez’s crop while widening his lead past the furlong grounds, and from there was hand-ridden to an easy win punctuated by a strong gallop-out. Despite going such a robust early pace, Arabian Knight’s closing 2 1/2-furlong split, 31.62, easily ranked second best in the field, surpassed only by late-running RED ROUTE ONE’s 31.20. This colt has a big stride, a solid pillar of stamina coated in a shiny patina of speed. Many have noted Arabian Knight’s paddling action coming from his left front leg. It’s not ideal, but it’s also not extreme, and, so far, it’s clearly been manageable. Horses trained by Baffert aren’t eligible to race in the Kentucky Derby nor earn qualifying points toward the race, and owner Amr Zedan soon must decide what to do with this Derby prospect. Red Route One never has shown any early speed and had none in the Southwest. He appeared uncomfortable early over the sloppy going, climbing a bit as he fell back to last around the first turn. Red Route One raced alone, detached from the rest of the field, down the backstretch before gathering momentum going into the far turn. His third quarter-mile in 24.76 was second only to middle-moving JACE’S ROAD, and after reeling in flagging rivals, Red Route One was guided off the rail and to the far outside approaching the quarter pole. He jumped to his wrong lead past the furlong marker, jinking in, but still had sufficient energy to reel in tiring pace-presser Frosted Departure and earn the place. Red Route One last year finished a distant third in the Breeders’ Futurity and with better luck would’ve been right there in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes with victorious Instant Coffee. He’s a solid horse who got a favorable Southwest setup – and still the second-time starter dusted him. Frosted Departure had completely fizzled in a pair of two-turn races last year, and while hitting a career peak in the Southwest, his performance suggested a horse looking for less ground. Credit to the colt, who was making his 10th start, for sticking within a half-length of the winner to the quarter pole, but Frosted Departure was gassed a furlong out and held third in part because other supposedly capable horses misfired. SUN THUNDER, making his first start with other winners while racing for the third time, ran decently while well beaten. Breaking last from post 1, he cleaved to the rail around the first turn and down the backstretch before being caught behind fading CORONA BOLT past the half-mile pole. The rider had to await a seam between Corona Bolt and tiring WESTERN GHENT that opened before the five-sixteenths pole, steering right and winding up widest at the quarter pole. Sun Thunder loomed, but in the end only closed mildly, going somewhat flat the final sixteenth. He persevered to beat JACE’S ROAD for fourth, though it was perhaps telling that Sun Thunder couldn’t catch his Kenny McPeek-trained stablemate, Frosted Departure. Jace’s Road entered off a 5 1/2-length win in the Gun Runner at Fair Grounds that produced a 90 Beyer. He came up flat on the tote board, just shy of 11-1, and ran to that price. Racing mid-pack into the first turn and down the backstretch, Jace’s Road moved four wide to make a run at the three-furlong pole that already had run out of steam at the quarter pole. He dropped down to the rail for the stretch run and finished tepidly for fifth. Keep in mind that Jace’s Road’s only other sloppy-track start, in the Street Sense in October, produced a distant eighth-place finish. It was Jace’s Road’s Brad Cox-trained stablemate, Corona Bolt, who took betting, going off at 5-2, and this is the horse I’m not sure we learned much about. Corona Bolt exited sprints and has plenty of pace, but after getting edgy in the starting gate, he broke poorly and failed to muster the early speed he clearly possesses. Instead of getting right into the race, he was caught inside and behind horses taking sloppy kickback, which he clearly resented into the first turn. This was a terrible beginning for a stretch-out sprinter’s route debut. Corona Bolt pulled too hard down the backstretch, never looked comfortable, and threw in the towel before the three-furlong pole. EL TOMATE, an awkward-going maiden winner, got into a good enough spot just behind the top pair after breaking from post 9, tracked the speed until Jace’s Road came outside him on the far turn, and beat a steady retreat to the wire. Western Ghent, fourth by 6 ½ lengths in the Smarty Jones, broke a step slow, raced wide into the first turn while third-last and kept up with the pack to the far turn before going empty.