Will The Real Bob Baffert Please Stand Up?
By, William F. Reed
May 11, 2002

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 11, 2002) - Although trainer Bob Baffert's mop of white hair, dark glasses, and quick quips have been a fixture on the Triple Crown scene for seven years, the media still isn't certain what to make of him. Is he more showman than horseman? Is he more interested in promoting himself than the game? At his core, is he a nice guy who is often misunderstood or a jerk who is insensitive to the freelings of others?

Whatever, Baffert's fall from grace with the media has been breathtaking. At first, he was welcomed as a glib, irreverent, laid-back California wiseguy who was a refreshing departure from the stoic, humorless horsemen who viewed interviews as only slightly more tolerable than walking on hot lava. He was as adept at delivering the 30-second sound bite as he was at filling notebooks and tape recorders.

Now, however, many turf writers have grown weary of Baffert's schtick. They not-so-secretly pull against him in major races. They dwell more on his shortcomings and mistakes than his successes. Last year, although he trained Point Given to Horse-of-the-Year honors, Baffert received only six votes for Trainer-of-the-Year.

"They (the media) don't like me," Baffert said before the 128th Kentucky Derby (GI) on Saturday, May 4. "It used to be that Wayne Lukas was the bad guy and I was the good guy. But since Wayne got into the Hall of Fame a couple of years ago, he's now the good guy and I'm the one who's getting all the darts thrown at him."

Whatever the scribes and broadcasters think about Baffert, the one thing they can't do is ignore him. He's now on a three-race winning streak in the Triple Crown - Point Given in last year's Preakness and Belmont, War Emblem in this year's Derby. He'll attempt to stretch it to four in a row in Saturday's 127th Preakness (GI) at Pimlico.

Baffling Bob's run puts him in an exclusive club with Lukas, who won six consecutive Triple Crown wins with four different horses from 1994-'96; the Jones boys of Calumet Farm, who won the 1948 Triple Crown with Citation and the '49 Derby with Ponder; and Lucien Laurin, who captured the 1972 Belmont Stakes with Riva Ridge before sweeping the '73 Triple Crown with Secretariat.

So who are all those critics and why are they saying bad things about such a special horseman?

Baffert's stock with some media types began to drop when he left his wife and children for Jill Moss, a Louisville TV anchor. They accused him privately of being hypocritical, since he had portrayed himself as a devout family man. Then, before the 2000 Santa Anita Derby (GI), he cracked what he claimed was a joke toward trainer Jenine Sahadi. She didn't think it was funny, called Baffert an immature jerk, and stormed out of the pre-race breakfast.

Soon the gossips of the backstretch were circulating stories about how Baffert mistreated his employees, played fast and loose with the facts, and was phony as a $3 bill. Some media folks accepted these stories as gospel, while paying scant attention to tales about Baffert's kindness and generosity, his continuing devotion to his children, and his loyalty to clients such as Mike Pegram, Bob and Beverly Lewis, and Prince Ahmed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

Still, the Baffert Magical Mystery Tour rolled on. It got to the point that you couldn't blame outsiders for thinking Baffert was the only good trainer in the business. He was everywhere - appearing in TV adds, endorsing commercial products, schmoozing with celebrities, riding in a borrowed Jaguar at the Derby, partying with Pegram in Vegas and Mexico, and so on.

Naturally, all this exposure didn't exactly endear him with his critics. They said success had gone to his head, that the real credit for his champions should go to the people who worked for him, and that his greatest talent was recruiting clients with deep pockets. Although he pretended not to notice, such criticism stung Baffert.

"Jill tells me I hurt myself by not defending myself," Baffert said. "I just don't want to get into that stuff. I'm just here to train horses, win races, have fun, and enjoy life. Some people seem to resent me because they think I just dropped in from out of the blue with all these good horses. But I've paid my dues. It was just in the Quarter Horse business, that's all."

As far as many owners and trainers are concerned, the Quarter Horse game is to Thoroughbred racing what Class A baseball is to the major leagues. The purses, crowds, and tracks aren't nearly as big. The media cares about as much about Quarter Horse racing as it does, oh, bobsledding or womens' wrestling. It's a tough business that requires a willingness to work long hours for little, or no, reward.

Like Lukas, Baffert cut his teeth on Quarter Horses. He bought and sold his own horses, groomed them, tended to their needs, and raced them. It didn't take him long to rise to the top of the game and begin wondering if the same methods and philosophy could be applied to Thoroughbred racing.

They could. His first Derby horse, Cavonnier, lost by a head bob to Grindstone in 1996. He then won both the Derby and Preakness with Silver Charm in 1997 and '98, only to see their Triple Crown bids fall barely short in the Belmont Stakes (GI).

"Fate owes me a Triple Crown," said Baffert on Saturday, May 11, as he chatted with three reporters on a Churchill Downs clockers' stand after watching War Emblem gallop a mile. "Naw, I'm only kidding. I'm not looking past the next race with this horse. The Preakness will be a tougher test for him than the Derby. I'm just going to relax and enjoy it. What happens, happens."

Earlier this year, as Baffert's Triple Crown hopefuls began to fall by the wayside, Baffert quipped that he and Jill should get married on Derby Day "so we'll have something to do." Jill got into the act, flashing her engagement ring at Baffert and saying, "Looks like this is the only jewel we're going to get out of this Triple Crown."

However, only days after War Emblem had upset the highly-regarded Repent to win the Apr. 6 Illinois Derby (GII) for owner Russell Reineman and trainer Frank R. Springer, it was announced that Prince Salman had bought the nearly-black colt for $900,00 and had turned him over to Baffert with orders to get him ready for the Derby. (A part of the deal that wasn't announced was that Reineman would retain 10 percent of the colt and be a "silent partner.")

Immediately Baffert's bashers accused Prince Salman of buying the colt just so Baffert wouldn't have to miss the Derby. They pointed out that Reineman wasn't going to send him to the Derby because he didn't think War Emblem was good enough. Few considered that perhaps Reineman thought he had put one over on the Prince and Baffert, considering the colt had enough bone chips in his legs to qualify as "damaged goods."

All Baffert knew was that he liked the colt's competitive spirit and the way he moved. After getting War Emblem in his barn, Baffert began working to iron out some minor mental and physical quirks. He became extremely excited about the way the colt was working out, but kept that as quiet as he did his plans to make Danthebluegrassman a last-minute entry, knocking Windward Passage out of the 20-horse field.

Although Baffert had the right to enter Danthebluegrassman, who had more earnings in graded stakes races than Windward Passage, the way he did it irritated and angered a lot of people. He never gave Steve Asmussen, trainer of Windward Passage, a clue about what he was considering. As a result, the Windward Passage people, some of whom had flown in for the May 1 post position draw, didn't learn they were out of the race until five minutes before the draw began on national TV.

While those hard feelings were still simmering, Baffert angered his critics all over again by announcing on Derby morning that Danthebluegrassman was being scratched because of a sudden ailment. Some said Baffert never intended to run the horse and was only trying to draw more attention to himself. The rise and fall of Danthebluegrassman disappointed only those bashers who were hoping to see Baffert run last and next-to-last.

When the Derby began, nobody was surprised to see War Emblem go straight to the lead, as is his wont. Even the rival jockeys had so little respect for War Emblem, thinking he would hit the wall after a mile, that they hung back, waiting to make a big move in the stretch after War Emblem faltered. The problem was, War Emblem didn't falter. To the contrary, when Proud Citizen and Perfect Drift moved to him at the top of the stretch, jockey Victor Espinoza simply turned War Emblem loose. Unchallenged, he steadily increased his lead in the last furlong, finishing an easy four lengths ahead of runner-up Proud Citizen.

"The mile and a quarter was no trouble at all," Baffert said.

In keeping with tradition, War Emblem's name was painted alongside the 127 other Derby winners on the clubhouse walls at Churchill Downs. But before the paint was even dry, Baffert was in the middle of another controversy.

Reineman, still a partner but no longer silent, threatened to take Prince Salman to court if he didn't give him half of the $1 million bonus that Sportsman's Park offered to any colt who won both the Illinois Derby, run as a Kentucky Derby prep for the first time, and any one of the Triple Crown races.

"There wouldn't be any bonus to collect if I hadn't run him in the Illinois Derby," Reineman said.

Yes, but there also probably wouldn't have been a bonus to collect if Reineman had kept War Emblem. The colt would have to win either the Preakness or Belmont, because Reineman was adamant about not running him in the Derby. So unless Prince Salman has a change of heart, Reineman will either have to accept his 10 percent of the bonus and the owner's share of the purse, or else become engaged in an expensive court battle with the Prince.

While all this was going on, Baffert became weary of the criticism that he had inheirited a ready-made horse and didn't deserve any credit for his Derby win. Of course, that neglects the fact that War Emblem was so "ready-made" that the crowd sent him off at 20-1 odds.

"I take as much satisfaction out of winning with War Emblem as I did with Silver Charm and Real Quiet," Baffert said. "From the time we got him, I've given this horse a lot of personal attention. We taught him to relax and settle down, how to handle the paddock scene, and made a few little adjustments with him. I think our previous experience at the Derby helped a lot."

Baffert plans to give War Emblem a solid work at Churchill on Tuesday (May 14), then ship him to Pimlico the next day. As he looks at the likely 14-horse Preakness field, Baffert knows that Booklet and others won't let War Emblem have an easy lead and dictate the pace in the Preakness. That cat is out of the bag. But Baffert likens War Emblem to Seattle Slew and Sunday Silence, not only because he's their dark color but because he has the ability to take the lead and dare anybody to catch him.

"I'm telling you," Baffert said, "this is a really, really good horse. He's the real thing. I'm not going to worry too much about what happens. Baltimore is a fun town, and I'm just going to enjoy running this horse in the Preakness."

He knows the Baffert bashers will be rooting and betting against War Emblem simply because he trains him. "It wasn't too bad before the Derby, though," he said. "I only got a couple of derogatory remarks." He shrugged. At his age, Baffert can no more change his personality than War Emblem can change his running style.

Baffert asks only that he be accepted for who and what he is. No more, no less. The problem is, the media still hasn't figured that one out.

Native Kentuckian William F. "Billy" Reed has been a sports writer in various capacities for 42 years and has missed covering the Kentucky Derby a mere two times since 1966. He has been a high-profile sports writer in Kentucky for the Commonwealth's two largest daily newspapers, the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader and was a national columnist for Sports Illustrated, covering among other sports, Thoroughbred horse racing and college basketball. Reed currently pens a column for the Louisville Sports Report , contrbiutes features to the Keeneland program and will be, among varied other assignments, filing Kentucky Derby installments on www.kentuckyderby.com.

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