Eight Rings Contender Profile

Highest of highs, lowest of lows—Eight Rings has seen it all. Five-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert has a brilliant but quirky colt on his hands. As a son of 2003 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Empire Maker out of a mare by Pure Prize, there’s plenty of stamina in Eight Rings’ pedigree—it’s just a question of whether this colt can capitalize on his impressive breeding and talent.

Eight Rings was brilliant on debut at Del Mar, and his six-length score in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) was an eye-catching performance. But his romping Grade 1 win was sandwiched by disappointing efforts in the Del Mar Futurity (G1), where Eight Rings ducked in and lost his rider, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), where he unexpectedly faded to finish sixth. Baffert will have to work on Eight Rings’ mental game in order to bring out the best this colt has to offer in 2020.

More on Eight Rings:

MUCCIOLO: Road to the Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Eight Rings
JOHNSON: Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Eight Rings
HANSON: Race for champion juvenile male to stretch into December
BRISNET: Ten not too early Kentucky Derby contenders — Part 2
REILLY: Nucky shocks after Eight Rings loses rider in eventful Del Mar Futurity
REILLY: Eight Rings rebounds with a vengeance in American Pharoah
JOHNSON: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Top 5: Eight Rings on top
Brisnet Eight Rings archive
TwinSpires Eight Rings archive