Tag: Bob Baffert

Country Grammer fired a bullet in this July 24 workout at Del Mar. He's the 5/2 favorite for the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap in his first US race in 14 months. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

San Diego Handicap Punches Above It’s Weight as Pacific Classic Prep

- 3 min read

The Grade 2 San Diego Handicap is considered the major prep for Del Mar’s flagship race: the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. But you can be forgiven if you mistake this nine-horse field for what lies ahead Labor Day weekend in the Pacific Classic. And that’s not only because defending Pacific […]

American Theorem owns the only 2022 graded stakes victory in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes field. He is the 4/1 co-second choice in Saturday's co-feature at Del Mar. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Deep Field of Sprinters Go On the Road in Del Mar’s Bing Crosby

- 3 min read

The first instinct when looking at Saturday’s Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar is to see who’s not here for California’s richest sprint race ($400,000). There’s no Brickyard Ride. No Cezanne. No Dr. Schivel, the defending Bing Crosby champion, who finished second by an eyelash in the Breeders’ […]

Taiba's biggest victory in his three-race career came in April's Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. The Bob Baffert charge shipped east as the morning line favorite for the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park Saturday. (Image: Benoit Photo)

The Haskell Buzz Follows Baffert’s Taiba, Brown’s Jack Christopher

- 4 min read

The buzz horse in Saturday’s Grade 1 Haskell Stakes is definitely Jack Christopher. The buzz trainer – as he usually is in high-profile 3-year-old races – is Bob Baffert who brings in 7/5 morning line favorite Taiba. So when the starting buzzer goes off in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell, who’s […]

Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba, seen here during a June 25 workout at Santa Anita Park, is headed to next's week's Grade 1 Haskell Stakes. He reunited with trainer Bob Baffert last week. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Baffert Enjoys Reunion With Taiba, Sending Him to Haskell Stakes

- 3 min read

Trainer Bob Baffert reunited with one of his star sophomores, Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba, this week and the reunion went so well that Baffert will send Taiba to next Saturday’s Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. “I hadn’t seen him in a long time. I’m happy with the […]

High Connection (5) turned aside favored Slow Down Andy to win Bob Baffert his fifth Los Alamitos Derby and first stakes race since his return from suspension.(Image: Benoit Photo)

High Connection Brings Baffert Another Los Alamitos Derby Title

- 2 min read

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert eased back into his post-suspension routine with what has been a routine victory for him: the Los Alamitos Derby. The conditioner captured his fifth consecutive Los Alamitos Derby Saturday with High Connection. That came two hours after Baffert’s Rhetoric won a Los Al maiden […]

Taiba, seen here relaxing in his Churchill Downs stall during Derby week, hasn't run since finishing 12th in the Derby. He may be one of trainer Bob Baffert's entries in the July 23 Grade 1 Haskell Stakes. (Image: Chad B. Harmon)

Baffert May Pick Up Sophomore Mantle at Familiar Spot

- 2 min read

The Haskell Stakes and Bob Baffert have become so synonymous that the Hall of Fame trainer has nine Haskell titles on his mantle. And with his suspension ending this Sunday, Baffert may send one or more horses in his quest for Haskell title No. 10. The Asbury Park Press reported […]

A NYRA three-member panel suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert until the end of January. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo)

Three-Member NYRA Panel Suspends Bob Baffert Until January

- 3 min read

After taking two months to review its hearing report, the New York Racing Association suspended trainer Bob Baffert for 365 calendar days, effective immediately. The three-person hearing panel that reviewed Judge O. Peter Sherwood’s 50-page report from the April hearing credits Baffert with 59 days served. That came via NYRA’s […]

Trainer Tim Yakteen learned plenty in defeat about the Kentucky Derby horses he inherited from Bob Baffert: Messier and Taiba. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Kentucky Derby Taught Tim Yakteen Plenty About Messier, Taiba

- 3 min read

With both Messier and Taiba back at his Santa Anita Park barn, trainer Tim Yakteen took a look back at last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby shocker by 80/1 Rich Strike and came up with one inescapable conclusion many people overlooked. “Horses that show a fondness for Churchill Downs have a tendency […]

Champion 2-Year-Old Corniche won his first three races for Bob Baffert. He'll win any subsequent ones for Todd Pletcher. (Image: Benoit Photo)

The Exodus Continues: Champion Corniche Goes from Baffert to Pletcher

- 2 min read

Eclipse Award winner Corniche became the latest top-shelf runner to move from Bob Baffert’s California barn to Todd Pletcher’s New York base, according to his owners Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner, who campaign as Speedway Stables. The Daily Racing Form first reported Corniche’s move, which came due to Baffert’s 90-day […]

Embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert may face a two-year ban from racing in New York if a hearing officer's ruling is upheld. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA)

NYRA Hearing Officer Recommends Two-Year Ban for Bob Baffert

- 4 min read

Retired Justice O. Peter Sherwood, who presided over the January hearing pitting Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert against the New York Racing Association issued a report recommending Baffert be banned from NYRA tracks for two years. That 54-page report was issued to the media on Wednesday. In it, Sherwood […]

Medina Spirit warming up before his final race: the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. The Bob Baffert trainee died in December, nearly five months before Baffert lost a final legal appeal to stay his 90-day suspension. (Image: Anne M. Eberhardt)

Baffert’s 90-Day Suspension Starts Monday After Latest Court Setback

- 3 min read

One of embattled trainer Bob Baffert’s last legal Hail Marys was swatted aside Friday when the Kentucky Court of Appeals denied his motion for an emergency stay of his 90-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, which first reported the story, that means […]

Cezanne rolled to a 2 2 1/2-length victory in the San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita earlier this month. He is the 5/2 favorite to win the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile Saturday on the Arkansas Derby undercard. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Cezanne Looks to Write His Own Improbable Story

- 3 min read

While Cezanne has never traveled outside of California, he does have a role model to call upon for what kind of springboard to great seasons the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile can present. A role model doubling as a former stablemate: Improbable. Two years ago, the Bob Baffert-trained Improbable was a […]

Adare Manor was 13 lengths better than her overwhelmed competition in February's Grade 3 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita. The Kentucky Oaks prospect moved from suspended Bob Baffert's barn to his former assistant: Tim Yakteen's. (Image: Coolmore)

Oaks Prospect Adare Manor Continues Baffert Exodus to Tim Yakteen

- 2 min read

The exodus of sophomore horses from suspended trainer Bob Baffert continued Monday with standout filly Adare Manor moving from Baffert’s barn to former assistant Tim Yakteen. The Daily Racing Form first reported that Adare Manor will join Baffert ex-pats Messier, Doppelganger, and McLaren Vale in Yakteen’s Santa Anita barn. Those […]

Country Grammer and Frankie Dettori pulled away for a 1 3/4-length victory over Hot Rod Charlie to win the $12 million Group 1 Dubai World Cup. (Image: Dubai Racing Club/Cedric Lane)

Country Grammer Writes a Brilliant Finish to Dubai World Cup

- 3 min read

Country Grammer left clues in last month’s Saudi Cup he was just about back. In Saturday’s Dubai World Cup, he announced in rousing fashion he was all the way back. The 5-year-old Bob Baffert charge and 9/1 offering in international odds ran down front-running 2/5 favorite Life Is Good over […]

Trainer Tim Yakteen has worked for two Hall of Fame trainers in Bob Baffert and Charlie Whittingham. He has never trained a Kentucky Derby horse, a streak that may end this year with the transfer of three Baffert prospects to his barn. (Image: Yakteen Racing)

It’s on: Baffert Transfers Four Derby Prospects to Other Barns

- 3 min read

With a tick more than six weeks remaining until the Kentucky Derby, suspended trainer Bob Baffert finally moved four of his Derby prospects to other trainers. Provided the horses receive enough points in their impending final Derby preps, the move makes them eligible for the May 7 Derby. The Los […]

PInehurst and Flavien Prat won the Saudi Derby a month ago. They'll go for the Middle East double in Saturday's UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. (Image: Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia/Douglas de Felice)

UAE Derby: The Kentucky Derby Prep With an Unenviable History

- 3 min read

Since 2000, 16 UAE Derby alums have come to the US for their shot at the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle and a blanket of roses. That group included trendy dark-horse picks like Mubtaahij in 2015 and Mendelssohn in 2018, two horses who drew plenty of money on Derby Day. Mubtaahij […]

Bob Baffert may have to clear out his deep Santa Anita Park barn if his appeal is turned down. He suffered another legal blow Monday when his stay for a suspension was rejected. (Image: Zoe Metz Photography)

Bob Baffert’s Latest Appeal Denied by Kentucky Court

- 3 min read

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert suffered another legal setback Monday in his bid to keep his considerable stable running when a Kentucky judge denied a stay of his 90-day suspension. The suspension, $7,500 fine, and forfeiture of Kentucky Derby winnings by Amr Zedan, the owner of the late Medina […]

Express Train is the 8/5 favorite to win his first Grade 1 in Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Handicap Awaits its Next History-Making Winner

- 3 min read

Win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and you immediately enter the discussion of the country’s best older horses. Win the 1 ¼-mile “Big ‘Cap” and you join a club featuring the likes of Seabiscuit, Hill Rise, Ack Ack, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry (twice), Alysheba, Best Pal, Tiznow, Game […]

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