Unbeaten Newgrange (Violence) found his best stride late to justify 3-2 favoritism in Oaklawn’s $750,000 GIII Southwest S. “We saw he had a different dimension today, the way the race set up,” said trainer Bob Baffert, who tied Bob Holthus’s record five wins in this event. “Pretty proud of the way he ran. Johnny said he was struggling with the track a little bit earlier and I could tell that. Usually, he’s on the lead. But all the way down the backside he was in a good spot. You never know, but he showed some real grit down the stretch to win that race. Love going to Oaklawn Park and winning those big races. It was pretty exciting to watch, the stretch. He’ll come back to California and we’ll figure out our next move.”
