ESPN Horse Racing

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Bob Baffert stood on the apron at Santa Anita and watched Zensational haul exercise rider Jorge Alvarez around the California oval. It was Thursday morning, two days before the win-streaking runner headed into the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Baffert was contemplating the terrifying yet thrilling potential of a ferocious speed duel.

"We don't rate," said Baffert. "My instructions, to the letter, are: 'Let him go as fast as he can as far as he can.'"

The newly minted Hall of Fame trainer's affinity for fast horses is no secret. Never one to fear a handy work tab, Baffert is known for his sizzling runners and their frequent bullet breezes. He won back-to-back editions of the Sprint in 2008 and 2007 with champion Midnight Lute, and his first of seven Breeders' Cup victories to date was the 1992 edition of the six-furlong event with Thirty Slews.

So it is not surprising that Baffert is plotting a strong attack on the Sprint with an eye on year-end Eclipse Award honors for the rangy gray Zensational, a son of Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Unbridled's Song who comes to the Breeders' Cup off a string of four victories -- three in Grade 1 events.

On Monday, Baffert sent his contender through a final four-furlong breeze, tightening the screws for this upcoming effort. The 3-year-old ridgling smoked it in 45 1/5, fastest of 35 works recorded at the distance that day, with Alvarez holding on for dear life. Following the work, Baffert was not only ebullient, but unusually short on descriptive terminology.

"How about Zensational, huh?" he asked bystanding reporters. "I tell you what, he is just so ... so ... good!"

The colt's key opponents will come in the form of the two speedsters that have drawn directly to the outside of his post in the No. 1 hole -- Cost of Freedom and Fatal Bullet.

"If they hook up they're gonna go 20 and change and he'll go with them, 'cuz I can't stop my horse," Baffert said. "I'm at the mercy of those other two."

Zensational and jockey Victor Espinoza also face threats from closers like Gayego, whose trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, sounds remarkably high on his runner.

"It's hard to pick between all the Godolphin runners because all of them are doing very good, but Gayego I like a lot," bin Suroor said Thursday morning after arriving in the States on Wednesday afternoon. "I think he has the general speed, condition, he has everything. If he gets in a good position, I think he has a very good chance."

"It's very interesting the way the race came up, with all the speed down inside," said Jonathan Saddler, who conditions Cost of Freedom. "Zensational is on the fence and I'd hope to be leaning on him, but Fatal Bullet is right next to me in the 3 post, and he's likely to be leaning on me. Could be we're all setting it up for Gayego."

Knowing this, Baffert has put Hall of Fame preparation into a horse he considers to be one of the best he's ever trained. Espinoza thinks the runner, 7-5 favorite on the morning line, is ready.

"He's a runner," the jockey said. "Bob has him ready to go for this race. I have a lot of confidence in my horse, he's unbelievable."

"I know he's going to have to do a lot of work up front," Baffert said. "He's prepared to take heat and to finish. We'll see. If he's a great horse, he'll hold them off when those fire and brimstone runners try to chase him down."

Claire Novak is an award-winning journalist whose coverage of the thoroughbred industry appears in a variety of outlets, including The Blood-Horse Magazine, The Albany Times Union and NTRA.com. She lives in Lexington, Ky.