Bob Baffert

Bob Baffert
Bob Baffert at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California.
Occupation	Trainer
Born	(1953-01-13) January 13, 1953 Nogales, Arizona, U.S.
Career wins	2,064 (ongoing)
Major racing wins
Triple Crown wins: Kentucky Derby (1997, 1998 , 2002 ) Preakness Stakes (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010) Belmont Stakes (2001) Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Sprint (1992, 2007, 2008, 2013) Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1998, 2007) Breeders' Cup Juvenile (2002, 2008, 2013) Breeders' Cup Classic (2014) International race wins: Dubai World Cup (1998, 2001)
Racing awards
Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1997) Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer (1997, 1998, 1999) United States Champion Trainer by earnings (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
Honours
Lone Star Park Hall of Fame (2007) U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (2009)
Significant horses
American Pharoah, Bayern, Behaving Badly, Bob and John, Bodemeister Captain Steve, Chilukki, Congaree, First Dude, Forestry, Game On Dude, Indian Blessing, Lookin At Lucky, Midnight Lute, Midshipman, Misremembered, Pioneerof The Nile, Plum Pretty, Point Given Real Quiet, Silverbulletday, Silver Charm, Sinister Minister, The Factor, Vindication, War Emblem, Zensational

Robert A. "Bob" Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American horse owner and trainer, whose horses have won three Kentucky Derbies, five Preakness Stakes, one Belmont Stakes and two Kentucky Oaks. He graduated from the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program with a Bachelor of Science degree.^[1]

Early career

Bob Baffert began his career as a jockey. As he grew bigger, he had difficulty maintaining the required jockey weight, (around 100-108 pounds), and he switched to the training of American Quarter Horses. In 1991, he began devoting himself to conditioning Thoroughbreds for flat racing. From a base in California, he became the United States' leading money-winning trainer four times. He got his first big break in 1992, when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews.

American Classic History

In 1996, Baffert finished second in the Kentucky Derby by a nose with Cavonnier to Derby winner Grindstone. He came back the next year and won his first Kentucky Derby in 1997 with the gray colt Silver Charm. The horse also gave Baffert his first Preakness Stakes win, the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Silver Charm went on to place second in the Belmont Stakes and claim the first of Baffert's Triple Crown near-miss titles. Baffert repeated winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes the next year with Real Quiet, becoming the only trainer in history to win the two races in back-to-back years. Real Quiet finished second by 4 inches in the Belmont, which was the closest Triple Crown near miss in history.

Baffert's next Kentucky Derby win came with War Emblem, who also won the Preakness Stakes in 2002. He has one Belmont Stakes win with Point Given, who also won the Preakness Stakes in 2001.

After eight years without a Classic victory, Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by longtime client and good friend Mike Pegram, to win the Preakness Stakes in 2010.

In addition to these classic victories, Baffert trained Congaree to dual third-place finishes in the 2001 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His record in the latter race is 5 wins, 1 second and 1 third-place finish from 12 starters. He also trained the horses that finished first and third in the 1998 Kentucky Derby and first and third in the 2001 Preakness Stakes. In 2012, Baffert trainees finished second in all three Triple Crown races. In the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, Bodemeister (named after Baffert's son Bode) placed second. In the 2012 Belmont, Paynter was the runner-up. Both colts were campaigned for owner Zayat Stables.

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. Among his numerous accomplishments, Baffert has trained Thoroughbred horses that won nine American Classic Races, seven Breeders' Cup races, and two Dubai World Cups. In 2010 Baffert scored a first when Misremembered; a horse he bred, which is owned by his wife Jill and good friend George Jacobs, won the Santa Anita Handicap marking his first Grade I win as a breeder. He has a number of record wins in prestigious races: including 6 wins in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby, 6 wins in the Grade I Haskell Invitational Handicap, and 11 wins in the Del Mar Futurity, a race he won seven straight times from 1996 to 2002, when run as a Grade II event. He also won the race in successive years in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2011 when run as a Grade I event. He has won the prestigious Grade I Kentucky Oaks twice: first in 1999 with Hall of Fame member Silverbulletday and again with Plum Pretty in 2011.

Clients

Bob Baffert has trained for numerous top racing operations; including The Thoroughbred Corporation (Prince Ahmed bin Salman), legendary California racing and breeding operation Golden Eagle Farm (John C. Mabee), the late Bob Lewis and his wife Beverly, Robert and Janice McNair, for whom he trained champions Chilukki and five-time Grade I winner Congaree, and good friend Mike Pegram, for whom he has trained champions Real Quiet, Silverbulletday, Captain Steve, Midnight Lute, and Lookin At Lucky.

Hall of Fame

Bob Baffert was inducted into Lone Star Park's Hall of Fame in 2007, and on February 25, 2009, the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York announced that Baffert was a finalist for induction into the Hall of Fame as a trainer. Ironically, also nominated in the category of Contemporary Male Horse was Point Given who won under Baffert's training the Belmont Stakes, Preakness Stakes, Haskell Invitational Handicap, Travers Stakes and ultimately the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. (Point Given was elected and inducted into the Hall of Fame the following year.) On April 19, 2009, Baffert was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame alongside one of the best fillies he trained, Silverbulletday.^[2]

Personal life

Bob Baffert has five children; four from his first marriage: Taylor, Canyon, Forest and Savannah. He married wife Jill, a former television reporter based in Louisville, in 2002. They had a son in 2004 they named Bode, after skier Bode Miller. Baffert, wife Jill and son Bode reside in California. He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef.

Bob survived a heart attack in late March 2012 while in Dubai for a world-class race at Meydan.

Triple Crown In-the-Money Finishes

Selected other major stakes wins

References

External links

• Official website