Citizen Bull kicked off his 3-year-old campaign with a convincing victory in the Robert B. Lewis

The 2024 Champion 2-Year-Old Male in the United States led a 1-2-3 finish for Bob Baffert, who recorded his 13th win in the race

Citizen Bull made the perfect debut as champion / BENOIT PHOTO

ARCADIA, California (Special para Turf Diario).- What began with a misstep ended in a convincing victory for Citizen Bull, the 2024 Champion 2-Year-Old Male in the United States, who returned to action this Saturday in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3-1600m, dirt, US$200,000), part of the road to the Kentucky Derby.

In his first outing as a 3-year-old, the son of Into Mischief had no trouble achieving his goal, leading a 1-2-3 finish for trainer Bob Baffert, who claimed the race in memory of Silver Charm's (Silver Buck) owner for the 13th time, and the 7th consecutive year.

The selective process for 2-year-olds is often quite monotonous in Southern California, and this year it seems the story will follow the same familiar path, with the platinum trainer full of top-class horses and significant projects for the generation, now ready to be in the starting gates on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

Inactive since his victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar last November, Citizen Bull stumbled at the start but quickly recovered, making the mishap almost imperceptible and cruising to a victory in which he was the leader throughout.

At no point was the final result in doubt, with the colt asserting his dominance in the stretch, pulling away from his rivals to win by 3 3/4 lengths over Rodríguez (Authentic), with Madaket Road (Quality Road) finishing third, another 2 1/4 lengths back, all after 1:36.71 and splits of 23.27, 47.6, and 1:10.99.

"You never know what can happen until the next performance. He’s been working really well, he’s a big, strong, heavy horse, and he handled it well. They didn’t ask too much of him, but he’s so good that he just found another gear. My other horses ran really well. They’re learning their styles, and they need a little more racing. We’re happy, and especially winning the Robert B. Lewis because it was one of my favorite clients of all time. It’s so nice. The champ is back! The ‘Bull’ looked great at the finish. It’s funny to see him and not realize that in a race he has those gears. He doesn’t show them in the morning, but he does have them," said Baffert about his star colt’s performance.

Citizen Bull lived up to expectations and began his champion title defense in the best possible way, now ready for the upcoming challenges on the road to the Derby, which will surely be much more difficult.