Bob Baffert
Robert A. "Bob" Baffert (born January 13, 1953 in Nogales, Arizona) 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]
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[edit] 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.
[edit] American Classic History
Bob Baffert is a Classic icon. He won his first Kentucky Derby in 1997 with the striking gray colt Silver Charm. The horse also gave Baffert his first Preakness Stakes win, the second jewel of the Triple Crown. 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. His 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, a colt named Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by longtime client and good friend Mike Pegram, broke the drought by winning the Preakness Stakes in 2010, giving Baffert his fifth win in that race. In addition to these classic victories, he trained Congaree to dual third-place finishes in the 2001 Kentucky Derby an Preakness Stakes. He has a remarkable training record in the latter race, with 5 wins and one third place finish from 11 starters. He also finished first and third in the 1998 Kentucky Derby, and finished first and third in the 2001 Preakness Stakes also.
[edit] 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, and is owned by his wife Jill and good friend George Jacobs; won the Santa Anita Handicap marking his first grade 1 win as a breeder. He has a number of record wins in prestigious races; including 6 wins in the grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, 5 wins in the grade 1 Haskell Invitational Handicap, and 9 wins in the Del Mar Futurity, a race he won seven straight times from 1996 to 2002, when run as a grade 2 event. He again won the race in successive years in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2011 when run as a grade 1 event. He has won the prestigious grade 1 Kentucky Oaks twice. First in 1999 with racing Hall of Fame member Silverbulletday and again with Plum Pretty in 2011.
[edit] Clients
Bob Baffert has trained for numerous top racing operations; including The Thoroughbred Corporation (Mike Pegram) legendary California racing and breeding operation Golden Eagle Farm (Karl Watson and Paul Weitman), the late Bob Lewis and his wife Beverly, Robert and Janice McNair, for whom he trained champions Chilukki and five-time grade one winner Congaree, and good friend Mike Pegram, for whom he has trained champions Real Quiet, Silverbulletday, Captain Steve, Midnight Lute, and Lookin At Lucky.
[edit] 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 in to the Hall of Fame as a trainer. [1] Ironically, also nominated in the category of Contemporary Male Horse is Point Given who won under Baffert's training the Belmont Stakes, Preakness Stakes, Haskell Invitational Handicap, Travers Stakes and ultimately the Eclipse Award for American Horse of the Year. (Point Given was elected and inducted into the Hall of Fame the following year.) On April 19, 2009, Baffert was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame along side one of the best fillies he trained, Silverbulletday. [2]
[edit] Personal life
Bob Baffert has five children; the following four from his first marriage: Taylor, Canyon, Forest and Savannah. He married wife Jill in 2002 and they had a son in 2004 named Bode, named for Bode Miller. Bob, wife Jill and son Bode reside in California. He was also in a episode of the hit TV show Take Home Chef
[edit] Selected other major stakes wins
- Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap 1992, 2009, 2011
- La Brea Stakes 1992, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008
- Del Mar Debutante Stakes 1995, 1997–1999, 2001, 2006
- Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap 2004
- Del Mar Futurity 1996-2002, 2008, 2009, 2011
- Del Mar Oaks 1999, 2009
- Santa Anita Derby 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2011
- Best Pal Stakes 1998, 2000–2002, 2004, 2005, 2009
- Strub Stakes 1998, 2000, 2001
- Hollywood Starlet Stakes 1998, 2001
- Goodwood Stakes 1998, 2010, 2011
- San Antonio Handicap 2003, 2010
- Alabama Stakes 1999
- Zenyatta Stakes 1998, 2007
- San Vicente Stakes 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011
- Ashland Stakes 1999
- Black-Eyed Susan Stakes 1999, 2004
- Santa Ynez Stakes 1997, 2004, 2008
- Carter Handicap 2003
- Dwyer Stakes 1999, 2005
- Pat O'Brien Handicap 2000, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2011
- Gazelle Handicap 1999
- Hollywood Gold Cup 1999, 2003, 2011
- San Felipe Stakes 1999, 2001, 2004, 2009
- King's Bishop Stakes 1999
- Cigar Mile Handicap 2000, 2002, 2003
- Jockey Club Gold Cup 1999
- Eddie Read Stakes 1999
- Kentucky Oaks 1999, 2011
- Lane's End Breeders' Futurity 1999, 2000
- Donn Handicap 2001
- Las Virgenes Stakes 1999, 2003
- Pacific Classic Stakes 1999, 2009, 2010
- Pimlico Special 1999
- Santa Anita Oaks 1999, 2003
- Woodward Stakes 1999
- Frank E. Kilroe Mile 2000
- Santa Anita Handicap 2000, 2010, 2011
- Champagne Stakes 2001
- Haskell Invitational Handicap 2001, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011
- Travers Stakes 2001
- Wood Memorial 2001, 2006
- Santa Maria Handicap 2002
- Blue Grass Stakes 2006
- Norfolk Stakes 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2009
- Santa Monica Handicap 2006, 2007, 2010
- Forego Stakes 2007
- CashCall Futurity 1997, 1999, 2000, 2008 ,2009
- Triple Bend Invitational Handicap 1996, 2009, 2010
- Acorn Stakes 2009
- Frizette Stakes 2007, 2010
- Rebel Stakes 2010, 2011
- Swaps Stakes 2000, 2001, 2003, 2009
- Prioress Stakes 2004, 2008
- Test Stakes 2008
- Oak Leaf Stakes 1997-2000, 2002, 2005, 2007
- Gallant Bloom Handicap 2008, 2009
- San Fernando Stakes 1998, 2004, 2008, 2011
- Humana Distaff Handicap 2006
- John C. Mabee Handicap 1999, 2000
- Clark Handicap 1996, 1998
- Ruffian Handicap 2008
- Fantasy Stakes 1999
- Fair Grounds Oaks 1999
- West Virginia Derby 2010, 2011
- Potrero Grande Handicap 1994, 2010
- Indiana Derby 2009, 2010
- Super Derby 2011
- Cotillion Handicap 2011
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint 2011
