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.”

Penn State All-American defensive end Abdul Carter is working back from an apparent left arm injury, and while coach James Franklin said it’s “too early” to determine Carter’s status for the College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame, there’s optimism about his return.

“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything stopping him from playing, but it’s going to come down to, how is he able to play?” Franklin said Saturday. “We’ll see. But his mentality is great. He’s excited about this week, but it’s too early to say at this stage.”

Carter left the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against Boise State on Tuesday in the first quarter, not recording any statistics before exiting and not returning. No. 6 seed Penn State won 31-14 to advance to the Capital One Orange Bowl, where it will face No. 7 seed Notre Dame on Thursday night.

Carter, 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, became Penn State’s first consensus All-America selection since Saquon Barkley in 2017. He also was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. lists Carter as the No. 2 prospect for the 2025 NFL draft, behind Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of Colorado.

Carter posted a social media message Tuesday of Darth Vader in a bacta tank from the movie “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” indicating his recovery process from the injury.

“He’s doing great. His attitude is great. His mentality has been really good,” Franklin said. “We’ll see, but he’s taken the right approach and mentality, and it’s really going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s going to get during the week.”

Franklin does not usually provide injury updates about players who are not out for the season but understands the attention around Carter, who leads Penn State in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (21.5) and ranks second in quarterback hurries (8) and fourth in total tackles (63). A Philadelphia native, Carter moved from linebacker to defensive end this season under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. He has 22 career sacks, 37.5 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 13 passes defended.

Penn State players are off Saturday before returning to practice Sunday.

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.”