Bob Baffert has been one of the most controversial figures in U.S. horse racing throughout the 21st century. That was only evidenced in 2021 after Medina Spirit tested positive for a banned substance after winning the Kentucky Derby.
The runner was later disqualified from the race, and Baffert was banned from running horses in the opening leg of the Triple Crown for the next three years.
However, the American trainer remains one of the most successful in history, and he will be back with a vengeance in 2025, as he looks to set the record for the most wins in the Derby.
Bob Baffert grew up on a ranch in Arizona, where he and his family raised chickens and cattle. At the age of ten, he made his first steps into racing after his father purchased Quarter Horses and trained them to compete on track.
This only lit the fire for his life-long passion, and Baffert would take his first steps into the sport after becoming a jockey in his teens. His reputation as a promising trainer enhanced when he was 20, and he would gain a first win with Flipper Star in January 1979.
Further wins would follow throughout the 1980s, before he turned his attention to training thoroughbreds in the 1990s. His major break arrived after training Thirty Slews to success at the Breeders’ Cup in 1992.
Following gaining of reputation of exceling with cheaper horses, his eye for talent would later play a key role in the success that he would achieve on the biggest stages across the United States. Baffert has become synonymous with Triple Crown races throughout modern history.
His first taste of an American Classic came back in 1996, as he trained Cavonnier, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby. However, a first win in the race would arrive 12 months later with Silver Charm, who later added success in the Preakness Stakes. Real Quiet won the Derby for Baffert in 1998, but the wins would dry up before landing the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with Point Given in 2001.
A third win in the Derby was achieved in 2002 with War Emblem, with the colt later adding the Preakness Stakes, before falling short in the Belmont Stakes. Despite Derby success drying up, Baffert would continue to land victories in the other Classics, landing the Preakness in 2010.
One of his most legendary horses would arrive onto the scene in 2015, as he trained American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown; becoming the first horse in 37 years to achieve the feat.
The runner would later land the Breeders’ Cup Classic at the end of the season. A Triple Crown would be achieved again in 2018 with Justify, before his most recent Derby success came with Authentic in 2020.
As one of the most dominant trainers of his era, it is little surprise that Baffert ranks among the highest-earning trainers in history.
The Hall of Famer has amassed career earnings of $366 million during his career, sending out 3,475 winners from 14,860 starts. Arrogate produced the most earnings after winning over $17 million during his career on track.
His best victory was secured in the Pegasus World Cup. Country Grammer is the only other Baffert horse to have eclipsed $10 million in career earnings, having done so after landing the Dubai World Cup.
Baffert will be back in the Kentucky Derby picture for 2025 after serving his three-year ban following the disqualification of Medina Spirit.
The Hall of Famer will be hopeful of winning the race for the seventh time, which would see him set the all-time record for wins in the race.
So, who are his leading hopes in this year’s race? You can check the current odds here: twinspires.com/kentuckyderby/odds/
Baffert’s leading Derby hope at this stage looks to come in the form of Citizen Bull. The three-year-old was the winner of last season’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and he will be aiming to become just the third horse to follow up his success in that race with a victory at Churchill Downs.
His form looks rock-solid on paper, and he made his reappearance with a pleasing three-length success in the G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes in early February.
Barnes was a one-time Derby favorite for the Baffert stable, but he has drifted in the betting after being well-beaten on his latest start by Journalism in the G2 San Felipe Stakes.
Could yet reverse that form, and he was a very pleasing winner at the start of January when landing the G2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.
Rodriguez could be the final Baffert horse in the Derby line-up. However, he will have the most to prove on track.
The three-year-old was beaten by Citizen Bull in the G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, and was also eleven lengths third in the G2 San Vicente Stakes on his previous outing.