Baffert Returns to Triple Crown With National Treasure

For Bob Baffert there's a sense of normalcy surrounding the 148th edition of the Preakness Stakes (G1).

When grade 1-placed National Treasure  runs in the second leg of the Triple Crown May 20 at Pimlico Race Course, it will mark the first time in two years that Baffert has entered a 3-year-old in one of the American classics and also will mark the Racing Hall of Fame trainer reaching the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Medina Spirit, who finished third in the 2021 Preakness, is Baffert's most recent Triple Crown starter and the horse that ignited the well-documented suspensions and legal battles that have shadowed him since then. The two-year suspension by Churchill Downs Inc. racetracks may not end for another month and the appeals over the post-race positive drug test that stripped Medina Spirit of his Kentucky Derby (G1) win are still being heard. Yet everywhere else, led by Pimlico for the Preakness and Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes (G1), Baffert and his horses are allowed to race and train.

"It's been very disruptive and just unfortunate, but it looks like it's behind him and us," said Jack Wolf, founder and managing partner of Starlight Racing whose group owns a share of National Treasure.

Baffert lost some of his owners when he was hit with the CDI suspension, a 90-day regulatory suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and a one-year ban by the New York Racing Association, but the vast majority of his top owners stayed loyal to him.

Starlight was a part owner of Baffert's second Triple Crown winner, Justify  , and 2020 Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year Authentic  . Wolf and his partners in "The Avengers" yearling sales team (SF Racing and Madaket Stables) have stood at Baffert's side throughout the ordeal, continuing to race with him and buy yearlings for the four-time Eclipse Award winner.

"He's one of the toughest people I've ever met, mentally. He never looks back. He's always looking forward. A regular guy could not have handled all this. I have the utmost respect for the way Bob handled this and his business," Wolf said.

Starlight, SF Racing, and Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables and their bloodstock agents buy about two dozen yearlings a year, add a few more partners, and then send the horses to Baffert as 2-year-olds. SF's Tom Ryan serves as the manager of the partnership and his support for Baffert did not waiver during the stormy past two years.

"We've stood behind Bob every step of the way. In my mind he's the greatest trainer of the modern era," Ryan said. "We're proud that we stuck with him and we're looking forward to the 2-year-olds we're sending to him. He can handle an extraordinary amount of pressure and he has always put the horse first. Bob has an amazing operation with some great people.

"The man was tortured over 21 picograms (the amount of betamethasone found in Medina Spirit). I don't have the words to say how unjust that was."

Though Baffert's starts dipped to 259 last year, his lowest since 1994, his level of success remained as high as ever. He won at a 29% clip and captured eight grade 1 stakes, not including the victory by Country Grammer  in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1). He also won five races on the opening day of the winter/spring meet at Santa Anita Park.

On May 19 at Pimlico, he'll send out Faiza , the 7-5 favorite in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) for longtime owner Michael Lund Petersen, and on Saturday he will saddle National Treasure to try and add to his record total of Triple Crown wins (16) and become the first trainer to win the Preakness for a record eighth time.

"If anybody can win the Preakness, Bob can," Wolf said.

National Treasure, a Kentucky-bred son of Quality Road   bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, started his career with Baffert and closed out a three-race 2-year-old campaign with a third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) for the ownership group that also includes Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan.

Bought for $500,000 from the Bridie Harrison consignment at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's New York Sale of Select Yearlings, he started 2023 with a third in the Sham Stakes (G3), finishing a length behind stablemate Reincarnate . With Baffert's horses ineligible for Kentucky Derby qualifying points because of the CDI suspension, National Treasure was shifted to trainer Tim Yakteen in hopes of earning enough points in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) to race in the Kentucky Derby. After a fourth-place finish there, the owners sent the horse back to Baffert's barn, where he has put in a pair of bullet works for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.

"Tim did a good job but it's nice to have the horse back with Bob. It's so difficult to win these grade 1 races and you can't afford a disruption like putting a horse in a new environment. It's uncomfortable for the horse," Wolf said. "Bob has always liked the horse. I was watching the replay of the last race and he did encounter a little trouble but he didn't run his race. Bob thinks he's training very well."

The 4-1 third-choice will break from the rail Saturday with Hall of Famer John Velazquez and, as one of the few starters in the field of eight with early speed, figures to be on or near the early lead.

"He has the ability to stalk and settle. I'm sure Johnny will run his race with him," Ryan said. "The horse had to mark his own career and he's done it. He shipped over well (to Pimlico) and has overcome what can be a tough trip. He's settled in well and seems to be in high energy and up to the task.

"Saturday afternoon is the great decider."

Saturday will surely be memorable in many ways for National Treasure's connections. Aside from whatever excitement their horse generates in the Preakness, it will mark a long-awaited moment for Baffert and his loyal owners. The Hall of Famer is back in the Triple Crown and may even send Reincarnate to the Belmont Stakes (G1).