Pilot Commander Another Justify Stakes Winner

Pilot Commander (4c Justify x Rebuke, by Carson City) stayed perfect in two starts this year on Saturday with a win in the Grade III San Carlos Stakes.

Second in last season’s Grade II San Vicente and a close fourth in the Grade I Malibu Stakes, Pilot Commander was running over the seven furlong distance here. Breaking from the inside post, Pilot Commander was happy to race just behind Vlahos on the rail in the early stages with the field tightly packed down the backstretch run.

It looked like Pilot Commander may have some trouble finding room to run as they raced into the straight, but a hole opened right in front of him and Pilot Commander was off. Pilot Commander had a three-quarter length advantage at the line to take his stakes record to a first, second, and fourth in three stakes attempts.

Trained by Bob Baffert for CSLR Racing Partners, Pilot Commander has won four of his seven starts with two other top three finishes as well.

The A R Enterprises-bred was a $700,000 2-year-old purchase by his racing owners from Niall Brennan Stables at the 2023 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds and is out of Carson City mare Rebuke.

That mare is the dam of seven winners from 11 to race with her other winners including the stakes winning Freedom Flyer. One of her daughters produced the stakes placed Compensate to carry on the stakes producing tradition with Rebuke’s dam also producing two stakes performers and four stakes producers.

This is one of six stakes winners for Justify in 2025, tying him with Into Mischief and Practical Joke.