By Donica Phifer
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For most, the name Bob Baffert is synonymous with horse racing.
Baffert is considered a living legend in the industry, having won two Triple Crowns in the last five years — with 2018 Derby winner Justify and 2015 winner American Pharaoh — and five Kentucky Derbies in his career.
However, it's 2019 that could be Baffert's biggest year yet. The horse trainer heads into Saturday's race with the top three favorites to win the Derby following Wednesday's scratch of former top contender Omaha Beach.
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A win from any of Baffert's starters — Game Winner, Roadster and Improbable — would see the trainer tied with Ben Jones for the most all-time trainer Derby wins. Jones won six times from 1938 to 1952 and also earned two Triple Crowns in his career.
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Speaking to reporters this week, Baffert repeatedly brushed off assertions of a historic race.
"I don't even think about it. It was a different era. Nowadays the Derby is bigger than it was then. Now it's pretty intense. Back then, horses ran 40 times a year. [The Derby] was just a race between other races. It's like comparisons of football players and baseball players from different times until now," Baffert told the Los Angeles Times.
Baffert came close to another Derby win in 1996, his first trip to Churchill Downs, when his horse Cavonnier was nosed out at the finish line by Grindstone.
"I remember the first time I saw the Twin Spires and I was like a kid in a toy store. I was hoping to light the board, and all of a sudden (Cavonnier) takes the lead … and I didn't even know how to act. I couldn't believe it. I was like, 'This can't be happening.' I've never yelled so hard for a horse," Baffert told The Courier-Journal. "And when he hit the wire I really thought he won it, but my seats were so bad that I had a bad angle on it and so I couldn't tell. That had to be the most disappointing loss I ever had."
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At the time, Baffert told the Courier-Journal that he never expected to make it back to the Kentucky Derby, but the next year the horse trainer nabbed his first win with Silver Charm and followed it up in 1998 with Real Quiet and in 2002 with War Emblem.
It would be 12 years before one of Baffert's horses returned to the winner's circle, but his appreciation for the race never dimmed.
"I really learned to appreciate the race. It's so difficult. You have to be so lucky. I've been really blessed to come back and have this good fortune. That's what keeps me in the game and keeps me excited," Baffert told the Courier-Journal. "At the end of the day, it's for the clients. I want them to enjoy the experience. I want them to be able to root for their horses when they turn for home. My job is to make sure when they turn for home that they can start screaming and yelling and thinking and feeling it."
Baffert has held back from revealing which of his horses he thinks might win Saturday, instead likening the upcoming Derby to the 1997 race with Silver Charm.
"I think anyone could win it. You have to get the trip, and the post is important," Baffert told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Last year we came in with Justify, and he was a man amongst boys, and American Pharoah. This year is different. With them, I knew I had the horse and felt like I needed a little luck. Now I've got three nice horses, and there's a lot of parity. It's wide open."
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