ARCADIA, Calif. - Picking up right where he had left off last fall, Point Given, the co-favorite for the Kentucky Derby, cruised to victory in Saturday's $250,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in his first start of the year.

	Point Given (left) was the second of two winners for trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday.

Point Given scored by 2 1/4 lengths over a game I Love Silver, who ran strongly to finish second. Jamaican Rum was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third. Gold Trader, the impeccably bred Storm Cat colt trained by D. Wayne Lukas, had to be vanned from the track after suffering an apparent fracture to his right rear ankle. He was pulled up about 100 yards from the wire while trailing.

Point Given covered 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in an excellent 1:41.94. The victory was his fourth in seven lifetime starts. He finished second in his other three races, including last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

The San Felipe was his first start since winning the Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 16, and jockey Gary Stevens took no chances. Point Given broke from the outside post in a field of eight and was kept wide, purposely, throughout. Point Given raced five lanes wide on the far turn, but Stevens was willing to concede ground loss rather than risk getting the overgrown colt stopped in traffic.

Point Given, the 2-5 favorite, paid $2.80 to win. His trainer, Bob Baffert, said Point Given would return in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7 in his final prep for the Kentucky Derby. Point Given is owned by Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation, which bred the son of Thunder Gulch.

Congaree romps
Baffert's day got off to a strong start when his brilliant but lightly raced colt Congaree dazzled the crowd with an effortless eight-length romp in an entry-level allowance race, the second race on the card.

Congaree ($3), breaking from the outside post in a field of five, was lapped on the early leader, Sudden Glory, before moving past that rival with a rush on the far turn. Congaree's jockey, Victor Espinoza, had the throttle in first gear, and never asked the colt, yet Congaree went past Sudden Glory in an instant.

Once straightened away into the lane, Congaree continued to draw away, with Espinoza sitting still in the saddle. After covering the first six furlongs in 1:10.84, Congaree completed 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:42.16. The time can be compared with the San Felipe, because they were run at identical distances.

Congaree, a son of Arazi, is now 2 for 2 at this meet. His only previous start came last summer at Del Mar, when he finished sixth of 12 as the 2-1 favorite. He had a knee chip removed before returning on Feb. 28.

Baffert said Congaree would make his next start in one of the key major preps for the Kentucky Derby. He said the Blue Grass Stakes and Wood Memorial on April 14, as well as the Lone Star Derby on April 7, all were possibilities. He said he likely would keep Congaree out of the Santa Anita Derby because that is the preferred spot for Point Given.