ARCADIA, Calif. — Barnes defeated stablemate Romanesque by 5½ lengths to win the $200,000 San Vicente Stakes for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in a field of Kentucky Derby hopefuls on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Barnes ran seven furlongs in 1:22.15 and paid $4, $2.80 and $2.10 as the slight even-money favorite. The 3-year-old colt had $307 more in the win pool than Bullard.

“I knew he would run well,” Baffert said. “I was watching Juan, he knows the horse well, and he said he was a little green. But everyone who has worked him says he has another gear. They are all a little green. The second (race) out is the most important for all these horses.”

Barnes improved to 2-0. He was purchased for $3.2 million as a 2-year-old by owner Amr Zedan.

“He had to really stretch to get this horse,” Baffert said. “When you have clientele like that, it is everything.”

Romanesque, also trained by Baffert, returned $5.20 and $2.40. Bullard was another half-length back in third and paid $2.10 to show.

Making his second career start and first in a stakes race, Barnes dueled on the lead with McKinzie Street in the opening half-mile. Barnes spurted away midway through the second turn and ran strongly through the stretch to close out the win.

“He’s really good. I love him,” said Hernandez, who was riding Barnes for the first time. “He was aggressive down the backside but he’s still learning how to run. I like him because around the quarter pole, he got off the bridle and was kind of looking around a little bit. But when I corrected him, he came back to me. I was really surprised how he finished today.”

Baffert said Barnes reminded him of his 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

Barnes is named after Baffert’s longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes.

“They surprised me and I was honored,” Barnes said. “I was a little nervous, but it is working out well so far. I had a little bit of a knot in my stomach, but it will only get better after this.”

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman says his team has to “expedite the preparation” with fewer days than Penn State to get ready for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.

During a news conference Saturday in South Bend, Indiana, Freeman was asked about the challenges presented after the team’s quarterfinal game against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl was delayed one day following a deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans.

The Irish beat the Bulldogs 23-10 on Thursday, while Penn State beat Boise State 31-14 in its quarterfinal game Tuesday.

Freeman pointed out that his team came out of the Georgia game relatively healthy and is proceeding as if this is a normal game week. Notre Dame’s only significant injury was suffered by backup tight end Cooper Flanagan, who sustained a foot injury that will keep him out of the rest of the playoffs.

“How you handle the unpredictable things in life will determine the success, and so the greatest thing about this week is it’s just a normal game week,” Freeman said. “Now what we’ve got to do is utilize the time. We have to expedite the preparation because what you miss in terms of not having those couple days is the mental preparation of knowing exactly what to do. We’ve got to make sure we utilize every hour of the day to capitalize off of the preparation. For us, this is just game week.”

Freeman has led the Irish to the semifinals after a Week 2 loss at Northern Illinois that could have derailed the season. Instead, they treated every week like a playoff game and are now on the brink of playing for a national championship.

As a result, there is far more noise surrounding the program heading into the semifinal, something Freeman acknowledged. But he also knows it is important not to deviate from what got the Irish to this moment.

“I think it’s human nature to enjoy people saying good things about you,” Franklin said. “It’s human nature. But we’ve talked all year about being misfits. That’s what we have to continue to be. You have to make the choice to either waste time listening to people tell you how good you are or you’re going to put your time into preparing for this opportunity right in front of us. That’s been my message loud and clear, and we all have to make that choice.”

Notre Dame‘s Marcus Freeman and Penn State‘s James Franklin are aware they are on the brink of making history in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.

The winner will become the first Black head coach to take a team to the national championship game. Both were asked about that possibility during their respective news conferences Saturday previewing their matchup.

Franklin said it reminded him of Super Bowl XLI between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith in 2007, the first Super Bowl featuring Black head coaches. Franklin was the offensive coordinator at Kansas State at the time, coaching for Ron Prince, another Black head coach.

“I remember thinking that, as a coach, how significant that was in the profession, and how significant that was for young coaches coming up in the profession, to see those guys in that role,” Franklin said. “I also remember, at that time, there were a lot of conversations about, ‘Will this impact the profession? Will this impact opportunities for guys?'”

At the time, there were six Black head coaches in college football, Franklin said. There are now 16 head coaches in 134 FBS programs, something Franklin described as progress.

“I know some people will say, ‘Well, that that’s not a huge increase,’ but it is an increase,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, does this create opportunities for more guys to get in front of athletic directors? Does this create opportunities for search firms? I hope so. I think at the end of the day, you just want an opportunity, and you want to be able to earn it through your work and through your actions. I take a lot of pride in it.”

When Freeman was asked, he made sure to note that he is also half-Korean, a nod to his mother. But he also understands the significance of the moment.

“It’s a reminder that you are a representation for so many others that look like you, and I don’t take that for granted,” Freeman said. “I’m going to work tirelessly to be the best version of me, and it’s great, because even the guys in our program can understand, ‘Don’t put a ceiling on what you can be and what you can do.’

“Now, with that being said, it’s not about me. It’s about us. More than anything, I want to achieve team glory with this program.”

Freeman was also asked how he can inspire other young coaches who are watching him on this stage.

“If you want to impact the young people in this profession, you probably should do things to help them, and those are things that maybe after the season I could focus on trying to do,” Freeman said. “I want to be a representation. But that’s not enough. If you want to truly help some people, then you got to be one to make decisions and actions that truly help people.”

Franklin said he is honored to be in position to coach against Freeman in the semifinal.

“I’m honored to be able to compete against Notre Dame. Most importantly, I’m honored to represent Penn State and the young men in that locker room,” Franklin said. “For me to sit here and say that it’s not important, it’s not significant, that would not be accurate.”