Bob Baffert

Bob Baffert
Baffert claiming his trophy for National Treasure at the 2023 Preakness Stakes
Occupation	Trainer
Born	(1953-01-13) January 13, 1953 Nogales, Arizona, U.S.
Career wins	3,046+ (ongoing)
Major racing wins
American Classics wins: Kentucky Derby (1997, 1998, 2002, 2015, 2018, 2020) Preakness Stakes (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2023) Belmont Stakes (2001, 2015, 2018) United States Triple Crown (2015, 2018) Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Sprint (1992, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016) Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1998, 2007) Breeders' Cup Juvenile (2002, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2024) Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint (2011) Breeders' Cup Classic (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020) Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (2020) International stakes wins: Dubai World Cup (1998, 2001, 2017, 2022) Dubai Golden Shaheen (2015) Grade 1 Stakes Wins Acorn Stakes 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2020 Alabama Stakes 1999 American Pharoah Stakes / FrontRunner Stakes / Norfolk Stakes 2009, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Apple Blossom Handicap 2012, 2024 Arkansas Derby 2012, 2015, 2020, 2020, 2024 Ashland Stakes 1999 Awesome Again Stakes / Goodwood Stakes 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 Ballerina Stakes 2018, 2021 Bing Crosby Stakes 2009, 2011, 2016 Blue Grass Stakes 2006 Carter Handicap 2003 Champagne Stakes 2001 Chandelier Stakes / Oak Leaf Stakes 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap 2004 Cigar Mile Handicap 2000, 2002, 2003 Clark Handicap 2014 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes 2020, 2023, 2024 Coaching Club American Oaks 2017 Del Mar Debutante Stakes 1999, 2001, 2006, 2012, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024 Del Mar Futurity 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Del Mar Oaks 1999, 2009 Donn Handicap 2001 Eddie Read Handicap 1999 Forego Stakes 2007, 2017 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes 2024 Frizette Stakes 2007, 2010 Gazelle Handicap 1999 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes / Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap 1999, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 Haskell Invitational Stakes 2001, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2020 Humana Distaff Stakes / Derby City Distaff Stakes 2006, 2014, 2021 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes 1999, 2016 Kentucky Oaks 1999, 2011, 2017 King's Bishop Stakes 1999, 2016 La Brea Stakes 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2021, 2022 Las Virgenes Stakes 1999, 2003, 2012, 2015 Los Alamitos Derby / Swaps Stakes 2000, 2001 Los Alamitos Futurity / Hollywood Futurity 1997, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Malibu Stakes 2011, 2013, 2018, 2020, 2022 Metropolitan Handicap 2017, 2024 Ogden Phipps Stakes 2018 Pacific Classic Stakes 1999, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2023 Pat O'Brien Stakes 2009, 2010, 2011 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes 2017, 2020, 2024 Pennsylvania Derby 2017, 2018, 2022 Personal Ensign Stakes 2018 Pimlico Special Handicap 1999 Prioress Stakes 2004, 2008 Ramona Handicap 1999, 2000 Ruffian Stakes 2008, 2014 Santa Anita Derby 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019 Santa Anita Handicap 2000, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2024 Santa Anita Oaks 1999, 2003, 2024 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes 2012, 2016 Santa Margarita Stakes 2017, 2024 Santa Maria Stakes 2002, 2012, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023 Santa Monica Stakes 2006, 2007, 2010 Starlet Stakes / Hollywood Starlet Stakes 1998, 2001, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Test Stakes 2008, 2012, 2020 Travers Stakes 2001, 2016, 2017 Triple Bend Stakes 2009, 2010, 2014, 2016 Whitney Stakes 2019, 2020 Wood Memorial 2001, 2006 Woodward Stakes 1999 Woody Stephens Stakes 2023 Zenyatta Stakes / Lady's Secret Stakes 2007, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
Racing awards
Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1997, 2015) Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer (1997, 1998, 1999, 2015) United States Champion Trainer by earnings (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) American Horse of the Year (2001, 2015, 2018, 2020) American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020) American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly (1999, 2017) American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse (2002, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2021) American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly (1998, 1999, 2007) American Champion Sprint Horse (2007, 2016) American Champion Female Sprint Horse (2008, 2020)
Honors
Lone Star Park Hall of Fame (2007) U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (2009) IFHA World's Best Racehorse (2015, 2016)
Significant horses
Abel Tasman, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Authentic, Bayern, Behaving Badly, Bob and John, Bodemeister, Captain Steve, Chilukki, Citizen Bull, Congaree, Dortmund, Drefong, First Dude, Forestry, Game On Dude, Indian Blessing, Justify, Lookin At Lucky, Lord Nelson, Mastery, Medina Spirit, Midnight Lute, Midshipman, Misremembered, National Treasure, Pioneerof The Nile, Point Given, Real Quiet, Secret Circle, Silverbulletday, Silver Charm, Sinister Minister, Vindication, War Emblem, West Coast, Zensational

Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who is considered one of the most successful and influential trainers in the history of horse racing. He has trained two Triple Crown winners: American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. Baffert's horses have won the Kentucky Derby six times, tying the record with Ben A. Jones for wins by a trainer. He holds the trainer record for Preakness Stakes with eight wins and has won the Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Oaks three times each.

Baffert has been the subject of significant controversy regarding repeated incidents of his horses failing drug tests or dying under his care. He was suspended and later reinstated by Churchill Downs following the use of the topical steroid cream betamethasone on his Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, who was subsequently disqualified.

Early life and career

Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. When he was 10, his father purchased some Quarter Horses and he practiced racing them on a dirt track. In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970.

Baffert graduated from the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program with a Bachelor of Science degree, got married, and began training quarter horses at a Prescott, Arizona farm. By age 20, he had developed a reputation as a trainer and was hired by other trainers to run their stables. His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. In the 1980s, Baffert moved to California and worked at Los Alamitos Race Course, where he switched to training Thoroughbreds full-time in 1991. He got his first big break in 1992 when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews.

Baffert established his early reputation with less expensive horses like Silver Charm and Real Quiet, bought for $16,500 and $17,000 respectively. Fellow trainer D. Wayne Lukas attributed Baffert's success to his "extraordinary eye for a good horse" and his management ability in finding the right opportunities for his charges.

American Classic history

Baffert's history in the American Classic races began in 1996 when he trained a three-year-old colt named Cavonnier, who ran second in the Kentucky Derby. In 1997, he trained Silver Charm to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont. Baffert revisited the Derby the next year, sending two top colts, Real Quiet and Indian Charlie, to Louisville. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. Real Quiet won the Preakness as well, but, like Silver Charm, the horse was denied a Triple Crown win and finished second in the Belmont Stakes by a nose. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years.

Baffert did not win another classic race until 2001, when he won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with eventual Hall of Fame member Point Given. He finished third in the Derby that year with Congaree. Baffert won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. The colt went on to win the Preakness Stakes, giving the trainer his third shot at winning the Triple Crown. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. Baffert did not have a horse hit the board again in any of the Triple Crown races until 2009, when he trained Pioneerof The Nile to a second-place finish in the Derby.

Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by Mike Pegram, to win the Preakness Stakes in 2010. The colt skipped the Belmont Stakes but became the champion three-year-old colt that year. In 2012, Baffert saddled Bodemeister, named for the trainer's youngest son, Bode, to second-place finishes in the Derby and Preakness. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second.

In 2015, Baffert trained the 2014 champion two-year-old colt American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown, the first to do so in 37 years. In winning the 141st Kentucky Derby, bringing his total number of victories in the race to four; Baffert also ran the third-place finisher, the previously undefeated colt Dortmund. American Pharoah next won the 140th Preakness Stakes, making six victories in that race for Baffert, who also finished fourth with Dortmund. Then, when American Pharoah won the 2015 Belmont Stakes, the win was the fourth attempt at a Triple Crown for Baffert, who at age 62 became the second-oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown.

Baffert also trained the 2018 Triple Crown Winner, Justify and the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic. His horse Medina Spirit, who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, was later disqualified for a medication violation. Medina Spirit's drug violation led to several racetracks suspending Baffert from entering races, including a ban of over three years by tracks owned by Churchill Downs.

Accomplishments

Between 1997 and 1999, he won the Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer three years running and was voted the 1997 Big Sport of Turfdom Award. Baffert was inducted into Lone Star Park's Hall of Fame in 2007, and in 2009, he was nominated and inducted to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, the same year as a filly he trained, Silverbulletday. Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010.

Baffert has trained horses that won seventeen American Classic Races, eighteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and two Pegasus World Cups. His graded stakes wins include nine wins in the Santa Anita Derby, nine in the Haskell Invitational Handicap, nine in the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes, and sixteen in the Del Mar Futurity, a race he won seven straight times from 1996 to 2002, when it was a Grade II event. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022 when run as a Grade I event. He has won the Kentucky Oaks three times: first in 1999 with Silverbulletday, who was later selected for the Hall of Fame, then with Plum Pretty in 2011 and with Abel Tasman in 2017.

In 2010, Misremembered, a horse he bred, owned by his wife Jill and their friend George Jacobs, won the Santa Anita Handicap, marking Baffert's first Grade I win as a breeder instead of a trainer.

Controversies

According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. Longtime client Mike Pegram explained, "Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate him…he's a wiseass and irreverent." Former client Kaleem Shah said, "He will rub people the wrong way by speaking his mind, sometimes he needs to hit the mute button."

Over 30 horses Baffert trained have failed drug tests. Baffert has paid out over $20,000 in fines. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. Teflon."

In raw numbers, most of Baffert's medication violations were for exceeding allowed amounts of authorized medications such as phenylbutazone, a pain medication commonly administered to horses. However, his violations for use of prohibited medications has sparked controversy.

In September 2019 The New York Times reported that Justify tested positive for the banned substance scopolamine after winning the Santa Anita Derby. After legal battles, in December 2023 a judge ordered stewards of the California Horse Racing Board to issue a new ruling which would effectively disqualify Justify from his win.

In 2021, the post-race test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit showed 21pg/mL of betamethasone. In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months.

At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. He told reporters that he would fight the issue "...tooth and nail." Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. Baffert responded by saying the situation "was like a cancel culture kind of a thing," a remark which earned him noticeable criticism from the press. On May 11, Baffert stated Medina Spirit had dermatitis, for which an ointment containing betamethasone was used. Sports Illustrated suggested that the positive drug test was a sign that Baffert's "leaking credibility" had reached "the saturation point." On June 2, 2021, Medina Spirit's split sample also tested positive and Churchill Downs suspended Baffert through the end of the 2023 Spring Meet.

On May 17, 2021, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) banned Baffert from entering Medina Spirit or any of his other horses in the 2021 Belmont Stakes or any other race at Belmont Park. On June 14, 2021, Baffert sued the NYRA alleging the association had no authority to suspend his license and that suspension "without prior notice" was a violation of the law. On July 14 the suspension was reversed by U. S. Federal District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon sitting in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. The Judge made her ruling based on the NYRA having not allowed Baffert a forum to refute their claims and stated that they (the NYRA).."had held no hearing — let alone a prompt one." On September 10, 2021, Baffert was charged by NYRA for conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing. Additional charges were added on January 3, 2022.

In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The suspension was scheduled to run March 8 through June 5. Baffert was granted a stay until April 4 to gain time for an appeal. However, the Kentucky Court of Appeals rejected Baffert's appeal on April 1. This in turn led to a ban from all California Horse Racing Board facilities beginning April 4 due to a rule removing any trainer under a 60-day or higher ban from all CHRB facilities. This included Baffert's home track at Santa Anita, although Baffert horse Shaaz won the sixth race on April 2. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. By the April 1 ruling, Baffert had already transferred four 3-year-old colts to other trainers.

The most notable cases prior to Medina Spirit's test were the disqualification of Gamine after a third-place finish in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, also for betamethasone, and Triple Crown winner Justify, who tested positive for scopolamine after winning the 2018 Santa Anita Derby, but the results did not become public until after the horse won the Triple Crown. That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. Similarly, cases against two horses who tested positive in Arkansas in 2020 for lidocaine were dismissed as being the result of accidental transfer from an assistant trainer who was using the medication on himself. Nonetheless, in that case, Arkansas suspended Baffert for 15 days. His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphine, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years.

Controversy deepened when on December 6, 2021, Medina Spirit died of an apparent heart attack after a workout at Santa Anita Park. This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. Though number of racing starts are used to calculate rates of death for all horses in the care of race trainers, not all horse deaths were animals in race training nor were they necessarily race-related fatalities.

Prior to Medina Spirit's death, Baffert had last been under intense scrutiny a decade earlier when seven horses in his stables at Hollywood Park died between November 2, 2011, and March 14, 2013, all from sudden and later unexplained heart attacks. In that period, 36% of all cardiac related horse deaths in California were animals trained by Baffert. California's equine medical director found that Baffert's horses were routinely given Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a thyroid hormone, that could cause heart problems during exercise, but concluded the medication, which Baffert said he had been using routinely for the previous five years, did not cause the heart attacks. No sanctions were issued against Baffert.

Baffert's ban at Churchill Downs' racetracks was extended in July 2023. One year later, in July 2024, Churchill Downs rescinded the ban after Baffert issued a statement accepting responsibility for Medina Spirit's drug positive and for any substance found in the horses that he trained. "I have paid a very steep price with a three-year suspension and the disqualification of Medina Spirit’s performance," he said, adding that he was "committed to having an amicable resolution with Churchill Downs in order to have the opportunity to compete again for the Triple Crown."

Personal life

Baffert has been married twice and has five children: four with his first wife, Sherry: Taylor, Canyon, Forest, and Savannah. He married his second wife, Jill, a former television reporter based in Louisville, in 2002. They had a son in 2004 whom they named "Bode" (/ˈboʊdi/ BOH-dee), after skier Bode Miller. Baffert and his family reside in California.

He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef.

Baffert survived a heart attack in late March 2012 while in Dubai conditioning Game On Dude to compete in the Dubai World Cup.

Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. He had been paid $200,000 to allow the Burger King to stand behind him in the grandstand during the televised broadcast of the Belmont, after having turned down $150,000 to allow the mascot to appear with him at the Preakness. At the post-Belmont press conference, Baffert announced he and his wife would be making donations of $50,000 each to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), and Old Friends Equine, all programs for retired race horses; and to the Permanently Disabled Jockey's Fund in memory of a Quarter Horse Jockey named Robert Z. "Bobby" Adair. A friend of Baffert's and an inductee into the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame, Adair died on Preakness Day, May 16, 2015, at 71. Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby.

Records Held

Name of Stakes Race	Grade	Track	Distance	Surface	# of wins
Del Mar Futurity	I	Del Mar Racetrack	7 Furlongs	Dirt	17
Los Alamitos Derby		Los Alamitos Race Course	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	14
American Pharoah Stakes	I	Santa Anita Park	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	12
San Vicente Stakes	II	Santa Anita Park	7 Furlongs	Dirt	12
Robert B. Lewis Stakes	III	Santa Anita Park	1 Mile	Dirt	12
Starlet Stakes	II	Los Alamitos Race Course	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	10
Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes	II	Santa Anita Park	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	10
Best Pal Stakes	III	Del Mar Racetrack	6 Furlongs	Dirt	10
Santa Anita Derby	I	Santa Anita Park	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	9
Haskell Stakes	I	Monmouth Park Racetrack	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	9
San Felipe Stakes	II	Santa Anita Park	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	9
Sham Stakes	III	Santa Anita Park	1 Mile	Dirt	9
Preakness Stakes	I	Pimlico Race Course	1 3/16 Miles	Dirt	8
Las Virgenes Stakes	III	Santa Anita Park	1 Mile	Dirt	8
Santa Ysabel Stakes	III	Santa Anita Park	1 1/16 Mile	Dirt	8
Pacific Classic Stakes	I	Del Mar Racetrack	1 1/4 Miles	Dirt	7
Santa Monica Stakes	II	Santa Anita Park	7 Furlongs	Dirt	7
Great Lady M. Stakes	II	Los Alamitos Race Course	6 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	7
Santa Maria Stakes	II	Santa Anita Park	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	6
Southwest Stakes	III	Oaklawn Park Race Track	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	6
Zenyatta Stakes	II	Santa Anita Park	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	6
Breeders' Cup Classic	I	Various	1 1/4 Miles	Dirt	4
Del Mar Mile Stakes	II	Del Mar Racetrack	1 Mile	Dirt	4
Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes	I	Gulfstream Park	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	3

Triple Crown race record

Year	Kentucky Derby	Finish	Preakness Stakes	Finish	Belmont Stakes	Finish
1996	Cavonnier	2nd	Cavonnier	4th	Cavonnier	DNF
1996	Semoran	14th	-	-	-	-
1997	Silver Charm	1st	Silver Charm	1st	Silver Charm	2nd
1998	Real Quiet	1st	Real Quiet	1st	Real Quiet	2nd
1998	Indian Charlie	3rd	-	-	-	-
1999	Prime Timber	4th	-	-	-	-
1999	Excellent Meeting‡	5th	Excellent Meeting‡	DNF	-	-
1999	-	-	-	-	Silverbulletday‡	7th
1999	General Challenge	11th	-	-	-	-
2000	Captain Steve	8th	Captain Steve	4th	-	-
2001	Congaree	3rd	Congaree	3rd	-	-
2001	Point Given	5th	Point Given	1st	Point Given	1st
2002	War Emblem	1st	War Emblem	1st	War Emblem	8th
2003	Indian Express	14th	-	-	-	-
2003	-	-	Senor Swinger	5th	-	-
2005	Sort It Out	17th	-	-	-	-
2006	Point Determined	9th	-	-	-	-
2006	Sinister Minister	16th	-	-	-	-
2006	Bob and John	17th	-	-	Bob and John	8th
2009	Pioneerof The Nile	2nd	-	-	-	-
2010	Lookin At Lucky	6th	Lookin At Lucky	1st	-	-
2010	Conveyance	15th	-	-	-	-
2010	-	-	-	-	Game On Dude	4th
2011	Midnight Interlude	16th	Midnight Interlude	13th	-	-
2012	Bodemeister	2nd	Bodemeister	2nd	-	-
2012	Liaison	6th	-	-	-	-
2012	-	-	-	-	Paynter	2nd
2013	-	-	Govenor Charlie	8th	-	-
2014	Chitu	9th	-	-	-	-
2014	-	-	Bayern	9th	-	-
2015	American Pharoah✝	1st	American Pharoah✝	1st	American Pharoah✝	1st
2015	Dortmund	3rd	Dortmund	4th	-	-
2016	Mor Spirit	10th	-	-	-	-
2016	-	-	Collected	10th	-	-
2018	Justify✝	1st	Justify✝	1st	Justify ✝	1st
2018	Solomini	10th	-	-	-	-
2018	-	-	-	-	Restoring Hope	8th
2019	Improbable	4th	Improbable	6th	-	-
2019	Game Winner	5th	-	-	-	-
2019	Roadster	15th	-	-	-	-
2020	Authentic	1st	Authentic	2nd	-	-
2020	-	-	Thousand Words	8th	-	-
2021	Medina Spirit	Last*	Medina Spirit	3rd	-	-
2021	-	-	Concert Tour	9th	-	-

Kentucky Derby record: 34–7–3–3

Preakness record: 23–7–2–3

Belmont record: 12–3–3–0

• ✝ – won Triple Crown.
• ‡ – Filly
• * – win stripped

External links

• Official website