Trainer Bob Baffert ahead of Kentucky Derby return: It ‘defines your career’
No horse trainer has won the Kentucky Derby more times than Bob Baffert, who will be chasing a record seventh title at Churchill Downs this weekend when he returns following a suspension that kept him on the sidelines for the last three years.
No horse trainer has won the Kentucky Derby more times than Bob Baffert. Now that a suspension from racing at Churchill Downs has been lifted — one that kept him on the sidelines for the last three years — he’s eager to return to Louisville for the Greatest 2 Minutes in Sports.
“We’re going in there and treat it no differently than we have any other year,” Baffert said in a pre-race interview with Sportsnet. “The Kentucky Derby is like the Masters. It’s a whole week leading up to it. You have to make sure your horses are happy and training well. There’s a lot of detail involved getting these horses ready. You want them to be at their best on Saturday.”
Of the 20 horses that have qualified for the Kentucky Derby, Baffert has two California-trained colts that have made it to the starting gate. For a trainer who has six Derby championships on his resume, it gives Baffert added confidence heading into the opening leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.
“There’s nothing like having a couple of horses that you feel have a chance of winning the race,” Baffert said. “That’s a big difference (from) going in with a horse that you’re maybe hoping hits the board. In my experience, going in there (if everything goes well) you have a chance. That’s a great feeling.”
Of the two horses Baffert has entered in the 151 strunning of the Derby, Rodriguez will likely gain the most attention from the betting public. Having drawn post No. 4, the horse accrued the fourth-highest points of the entire field that have qualified through prep races held across North America and Asia. Coming off a victory at the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York, Rodriguez has finished first, second and third over its last three stakes races and will have Hall-of-Fame jockey Mike Smith in the saddle.
“You want your horse to run a big race in its final prep,” Baffert said of the horse with morning line odds of 12-1. “You’re trying to run your horse and find out what he likes and what he doesn’t like. When they start going over a mile and an eighth, they start separating themselves and you want to see they’re not going to have limitations. He showed us in the Wood that (if all goes well), he doesn’t have any limitations.”
Citizen Bull is Baffert’s other entry among the collection of three-year thoroughbreds that have qualified. Winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November, it won three consecutive stakes races in California before finishing a disappointing fourth place in the Santa Anita Derby. Set to run from post position No. 1, Citizen Bull finished 11th overall in qualifying points.
“I didn’t want to run him too many times before the Derby,” Baffert said of Citizen Bull, who enters the Derby at 20-1. “He’s a heavier, quick horse. He’s worked well and he’ll be able to handle the stress of the Derby. He’s tough.”
As much as Baffert and his connections will want all attention placed on their equine athletes, there’s no question many will be fully aware of the last time Baffert had a horse run on Derby weekend. Medina Spirit was the first to cross the finish line in the 2021 Derby, but post-race drug testing conducted by track officials detected traces of betamethasone. In Kentucky, it’s a violation if any amount of betamethasone is detected in a horse during post-race testing. That led to Medina Spirit being stripped of the victory, as well as Churchill Downs suspending Baffert from any racing activity for three years.
Last July, Baffert issued a public statement claiming the horse’s positive drug test was his responsibility and shortly after, his suspension was lifted. While he knows many will want to focus on that chapter of his racing history, Baffert is only focused on what’s ahead of him as opposed to any outside noise.
“People want to have a good time, party, and see the horses. They’re not there to see the trainers,” Baffert said. “Everything’s behind me now. It’s been three years, and I went to Churchill last November and ran a horse and I didn’t have any issues there. I just don’t expect a lot of noise.”
Baffert’s first appearance as a trainer at the Kentucky Derby was in 1996. His Derby winners include Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), American Pharoah (2015), Justify (2018) and Authentic (2020). Both American Pharoah and Justify went on to win both the Preakness Stakes & Belmont Stakes, giving Baffert his two Triple Crown titles.
Now 72 years old, Baffert is searching for what would be a record-breaking seventh Derby title. As he returns to Louisville, what would it mean to Baffert to be back in the winner’s circle and have the signature bed of roses placed on his horse?
“That’s like asking a hockey player: ‘How would it feel like to hold the Stanley Cup?’” Baffert claimed. “The Kentucky Derby defines your career. I’ve been so fortunate to have won it so many times and it never gets old.
“When you win, it’s fun. I have to just focus on having them ready. We’ve got a long week ahead of us. Until I put that saddle on that horse, I don’t relax at all.”
KENTUCKY DERBY NOTES
- Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola returns to the Kentucky Derby as co-owner of Sandman (winner of the Arkansas Derby), which collected the second-most qualifying points over the Derby prep races and has morning line odds of 6-1. Viola has had numerous horses run in the Derby the last decade, including Always Dreaming which took the title in 2017
- Former MLB baseball player Jayson Werth makes back-to-back appearances at the Derby as a co-owner. His horse Flying Mohawk didn’t crack the Top 20 through qualifying points but is in the race (30-1) after a handful of other horses declined to enter. In 2024, Werth had Dornoch in the Derby (finished 10th) but went on to win the Belmont Stakes
- The morning line favourite entering the Derby is Journalism at 3-1. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Journalism enters Saturday’s showcase having won four straight races, including the Santa Anita Derby on April 5.
- Of all the horses that will leave the starting gate, only one has yet to win an actual race. Publisher was runner-up at the Arkansas Derby and is winless in six career starts. The son of American Pharoah comes in at 20-1 and is trying to become just the fourth maiden to win the Kentucky Derby (Buchanan in 1884, Sir Barton in 1919 and Brokers Tip in 1933). Sir Barton went on to be racing’s first Triple Crown winner.
