ARCADIA — It was exhilarating. It was disappointing. For Bob Baffert, the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday had all the ups and downs of a Kentucky Derby campaign wrapped up in one race.

Potente, the latest 3-year-old prospect to pop onto the scene for Baffert, took a huge leap forward to win the Grade II San Felipe in only his second start, with jockey Juan Hernandez timing his rally to beat long shot Robusta by a head.

Brant, the colt Baffert and most bettors thought would clinch a spot in the Derby, battled for the lead to the quarter pole but tired in his first start at age 3 and finished fifth behind third-place So Happy and fourth-place Secured Freedom.

Potente’s victory at 8-1 odds in the $200,000 San Felipe, worth 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, all but certainly puts Potente in the field of up to 20 horses for the May 2 race.

Brant’s defeat as the 4-5 favorite leaves Baffert to figure out whether to try again in a major Kentucky Derby prep like the April 4 Santa Anita Derby or take another path.

All in all, it was a good day for Baffert, the six-time Kentucky Derby winner whose path to Churchill Downs this year has been one step up and one step back.

The Hall of Fame trainer also sent out Splendora, with Hernandez, to win the Grade I B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile, another stakes on the undercard of the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap victory by Richard Baltas-trained British Isles.

Potente, a son of leading North American sire Into Mischief who cost owner Peter Fluor $2.4 million at a yearling sale, ran the 1-1/16 mile San Felipe in 1:42.92, about average for the race in recent years. He paid $18.20.

“It was asking a lot,” Baffert said of entering Potente in the San Felipe right after the colt won his debut in a 6-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita in an unimpressive time. “I put a really great foundation (of workouts) in my horses before I run them, so he was ready for it.”

But Kazushi Kimura, who rode that previous win, had told Baffert that Potente would like longer distances. And Baffert said he expected the pace Saturday to be “hot,” liking Potente’s chances of picking up the pieces if the leading contenders tired themselves out early.

That’s how it went. Brant, with Florent Geroux riding, took the lead as he had in winning the Del Mar Futurity last summer. So Happy, with Mike Smith aboard for trainer Mark Glatt, hounded Brant from the outside. They set fast quarter-mile fractions of 22.88, 46.62 and 1:10.42 while Robusta and jockey Emisael Jaramillo tracked in third on the far outside and Potente sat fourth.

When Brant and So Happy tired, 67-1 shot Robusta got the lead and Potente bore down on him.

“As we turned for home, I swung out a little bit, and it took me a while to get going because he’s (a) very big (horse). But, man, he’s a really, really nice horse. It’s only his second start, and he’s improving. I think he’s going to be even better next time.”

“You know, he’s bred for distance, so you just cross your fingers,” Fluor said. “It’s pretty thrilling.”

Baffert said of the beaten favorite: “Brant was like a work away from being ready. He was trying. He got tired.

I’m disappointed in Brant. I thought he would hang in there a little bit. We’ll have to regroup.”

Doug O’Neill, who trains Robusta, saw his colt take the biggest step forward Saturday, going from a sixth-place finish at 36-1 in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (behind Baffert’s since-injured Plutarch) to a close second in the San Felipe.

“He ran huge,” O’Neill said. “(Adding) blinkers made the difference. We’re going to the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby. Let’s go!”