Following a debut win going six furlongs at Del Mar Aug. 31, Non Compliant added a graded-stakes win to her resume Saturday when prevailing as the even-money favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. The victory provides Non Compliant, trained by Bob Baffert, with an automatic berth in the G1, $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Breaking from the outside post under Juan Hernandez, Non Compliant found herself hung wide on the first turn as Nooni, also trained by Baffert, set the pace under Martin Garcia. Non Compliant maintained a stalking position while well off the rail as Nooni carved fractions of :23.42, :47.22 and 1:11.65 for six furlongs.
Non Compliant began to rally on the second turn, surged past Baffert-trained Nooni in mid-stretch and raced under the wire 2 ¼ lengths the best. Nooni held second, 8 ¼ lengths clear of third-place finisher Tenma, the G1 Del Mar Debutante winner for Baffert, who saddled four of the six Oak Leaf runners.
This was Baffert’s 13th win in the Oak Leaf, which from 2012 to 2023 was known as the Chandelier Stakes.