Simply, Bob Baffert loves the Preakness. Surely, the feeling is mutual.
Six times, the white-haired trainer brought his Kentucky Derby winner to Pimlico Race Course (seven if you count Medina Spirit at the time of the race).
American Pharoah. MJC Photo
Hall of Fame trainer shoots for ninth Preakness Stakes win
Five went on to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, setting up Triple Crown attempts in the Belmont Stakes (Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem, American Pharoah, and Justify).
Two went on to win the Belmont and become the 12th and 13th Triple Crown winners – American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.
Several others did not run well in the Derby, yet Baffert believed they were ready to go again in the Preakness, just two weeks after defeat.
As is usually the case, he was right. Point Given (fifth in the 2001 Derby) and Lookin At Lucky (sixth in the 2010 Derby) went on to victory in the Preakness.
Point Given. MJC Photo
Baffert still calls Point Given’s Derby defeat one of the toughest losses he’s ever had.
“There’s some horses that didn’t get a chance to run in the Derby that it took a week for them to bounce out of it,” Baffert said in the days leading up to Saturday’s 149th Preakness. “If they’re doing well, run them in the Preakness. I’ve been lucky and horses that didn’t run well, they got wiped out or something, and they came back. It’s sort of, like, to prove that, ‘Look, he was the best horse in the Derby,’ and that’s your chance to validate it. It happened with Point Given. It happened with Lookin At Lucky. Those two horses validated that they were the best of their crop.”
Last year Baffert won the Preakness with National Treasure, his first win in the race without the horse running in the Derby. Baffert was suspended by Churchill Downs, Inc., after his 2021Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit was eventually DQ’d for an overage of a race day medication.
Cuanto vale esta exacta?
D Wayne Lukas y Bob Baffert🏆 pic.twitter.com/BeOqotrCeL— Claudia Spadaro (@ClaudiaSpadaro) May 17, 2024
On Saturday, Baffert sends out Santa Anita Derby runner-up Imagination to take on Derby winner Mystik Dan in a field of eight. He would have had the favorite in Muth, but the Arkansas Derby winner was scratched Wednesday after spiking a fever.
Baffert’s remarkable Preakness record
Baffert’s Preakness resume is remarkable: 25 starters, a record eight wins, two seconds and two thirds, and earnings of $6,457,150.
His Preakness winners are Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem, Point Given, Lookin At Lucky, American Pharoah, Justify, and National Treasure – all from 1997-2023
Baffert’s Boffo Preakness Resume
2023 National Treasure 1st
2021 Medina Spirit 3rd, Concert Tour 9th
2020 Authentic 2nd, Thousand Words 8th
2019 Improbable 6th
2018 Justify 1st
2016 Collected 10th
2015 American Pharoah 1st, Dortmund 4th
2014 Bayern 9th
2013 Govenor Charlie 8th
2012 Bodemeister 2nd
2011 Midnight Interlude 13th
2010 Lookin At Lucky 1st
2009 Pioneerof the Nile 11th
2003 Senor Swinger 5th
2002 War Emblem 1st
2001 Point Given 1st, Congaree 3rd
2000 Captain Steve 4th
1999 Excellent Meeting (DNF)
1998 Real Quiet 1st
1997 Silver Charm 1st
1996 Cavonnier 4th
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
