Baffert Chasing Record-Tying Sixth Kentucky Derby Win

As the 146th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) nears, trainer Bob Baffert is moving closer to adding one more monumental achievement to an already legendary résumé.

Should either Authentic or Thousand Words find a way to beat heavy favorite Tiz the Law and win the Sept. 5 Run for the Roses, it would give Baffert a sixth Kentucky Derby victory.

That would move Baffert into a tie with another famed trainer, Ben "Plain Ben" Jones, for the most victories in the long history of America's most famous race.

But at the moment, it's not the number of wins or another prestigious record that's foremost on the Hall of Famer's mind.

"I hate talking about that stuff. It's the kiss of death. All spring long everyone was talking about how many good horses I had and then they got hurt," Baffert said. "I don't worry about the stats and records. When I'm 85 years old and (wife Jill) is wheeling me around somewhere, then we can say, 'Hey, remember I got the record.' My job is to get horses ready so they can run their best race."

For more than 20 years, Baffert has been preparing horses for the Triple Crown in a manner like no one else.

Aside from his five Kentucky Derby wins, he owns the record for the most Triple Crown victories with 15, eclipsing D. Wayne Lukas' mark of 14. Thanks to American Pharoah  in 2015 and Justify  in 2018, he shares with "Sunny" Jim Fitzsimmons the distinction of being the only trainers with two Triple Crown sweeps to their credit.

Achievements like that, at the sport's highest level, do not happen by chance. It takes a rare blend of skill, a dedication to his profession, and a passion for winning that has made Baffert such a force in the spring classics.

"I work at it," he said. "I have devoted my whole life to the horses. Whether you're a trainer or a coach, you can't take a break."

If anyone can appreciate what Baffert has accomplished, it's the 84-year-old Lukas. He dominated the sport in the 1980s and 1990s until Baffert stepped into the spotlight, and the four-time Kentucky Derby winner knows better than anyone else all the difficulties a trainer can face on the Triple Crown's long and winding road.

"I may have set the bar, but Bob is raising it every week. He's going to definitely get it," Lukas said about a sixth Kentucky Derby victory. "He's just too strong. He's got clientele that want it, and he knows what to do with a horse. Don't think for one second that if he has a 3-year-old that can run that you are going to out-train him. You're not going to out-train him. He knows what they need and what to do, and he knows how to win (the Kentucky Derby)."

Much of Baffert's success during the normal five-week span of the Triple Crown is sparked by the enjoyment he derives from working with young horses and watching them develop, sometimes into champions.

"I love working with young horses. If I was a coach, I'd be coaching at a college. I'd want to work with those kids and develop them. I started out in Quarter Horses with young horses, and that gives you a feel for having your horses ready at a certain time of the year for a trial. You had to pick the right spot to get them ready," he said. "To me, it's the greatest therapy in the world to be around really good horses, especially the young horses. The day I don't have any good horses, that's when I'll hang it up and retire."

The odds will not be in Baffert's favor Saturday at Churchill Downs when he competes in the Kentucky Derby for the 20th time. Authentic will probably be the fourth choice in the wagering, and Thousand Words will likely be a double-digit longshot, but with Baffert's name in their past performances, ignoring them could be risky. 

"My horses are doing well. They're both training well, they look healthy, and they're working well. I think they are both threats," said Baffert, who also won the Kentucky Derby in 1997, 1998, and 2002.

Fate turned its back on Baffert in the spring when the COVID-19 pandemic forced Churchill Downs to move the Kentucky Derby from May 2 to Saturday. Had the race been held on the first Saturday in May, he would have had a powerful three-ply entry in Authentic as well as Nadal and Charlatan, who each won a division of the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1).

Shortly thereafter, injuries ended Nadal's career and sidelined Charlatan, who was subsequently disqualified from his victory at Oaklawn Park due to a finding of the banned medication lidocaine in his system that Baffert attributed to a pain patch worn by his assistant trainer. Baffert was suspended for 15 days due to the positive tests for Charlatan as well as Gamine on the same card, but he is appealing the ruling.

"I'll tell you what, I think he got robbed of the sixth one this year," Lukas said. "I had those two horses in my barn in Hot Springs, Nadal and Charlatan. Given the arsenal he had with those two and what he had back in the barn, I think if they had run on the first Saturday in May, he would have gotten his sixth win. He really had a nice set of horses. Then a couple of them got injured, and through the summer it has watered down his chances."

While Baffert's hand might not be as strong as it was four months ago, with a once-beaten grade 1 winner in Authentic and a horse in Thousand Words who beat top Kentucky Derby candidate Honor A. P. in their previous start, he's not bluffing against a set of aces with a high-card hand. 

"A lot of crazy things happen in the Kentucky Derby," Baffert said, "but if your horses are doing well, you might get lucky."

And that's spoken from experience. When it comes to the Kentucky Derby, there's no other trainer around who has been as "lucky" as Bob Baffert.

Additional reporting by Byron King.