PHOTO BOMB! ITS MOR SPIRIT RACING REDEEMED CAN BOB BAFFERT STRIKE TWICE?
Bob Baffert’s got nothing left to prove in thoroughbred racing. He’s done it all after capping a Hall of Fame career by winning last year’s Triple Crown with American Pharaoh How do you top that? The Triple Crown was the cherry on top of all the Breeders’ Cup victories, all the wins in races like the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Del Mar’s Pacific Classic.
Baffert’s been there, done that. He’s won the world’s richest race, the Dubai World Cup with Captain Steve in 2001, and visited the winner’s circle at the Haskell Invitational and Travers Stakes. Heck, he’s won the Haskell so many times (eight) the track should rename the race after him. But leave it to Baffert’s youngest son, Bode, to come up with something his dad hasn’t done.
“Bode says to me, ‘You haven’t won the Melbourne Cup,’” Baffert said. “Well, that’s not going to happen, because I am not going to win the Melbourne Cup. I might travel to go see it one time, but ...” So the Melbourne Cup will have to wait while Baffert saddled a pair of horses in the $350,000 Grade I Los Alamitos Futurity, a race Baffert has won a record eight times, including last year’s thrilling three-horse photo finish with Dortmund.
Not surprisingly, Baffert’s had the two morning-line favorites – Mor Spirit (8-5) and Toews On Ice (9-5), the latter of whom is named after Chicago Blackhawks standout Jonathan Toews. Mor Spirit comes in off a second-place finish in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs, and Toews On Ice has won three consecutive races. Of Mor Spirit, Baffert says, “I think he’s a nice horse. I thought he’d win (the Jockey Club), but he came up a little short.”
Whether he’s good enough to give Baffert another Kentucky Derby victory May 7 is up for debate. Only one trainer, Ben A. Jones with six, has won more Derbies than Baffert’s four. Another Derby victory that would break a tie for second all time with his good friend D. Wayne Lukas and Henry J. Thompson is what will keep Baffert focused despite the fact he’s already reached the mountaintop.
“To me, my favorite of all is still the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “The Kentucky Derby will always keep me going. When you win it, you can’t wait to get back and win it again.”As successful as Baffert’s been at Churchill Downs, he can’t help but wistfully think about how much greater things could have been. He could easily have eight or nine Kentucky Derby victories, especially when you consider the second best horse he’s trained behind American Pharaoh, Point Given, finished fifth in the Run for the Roses in 2001.
"I think the Kentucky Derby – the classics – are what really keep us geared up and get those competitive juices flowing if you can have a horse good enough to run in those races," Baffert said. Mor Spirit didn't take to a sloppy track in the Santa Anita Derby, essentially passing tiring horses to finish a well-beaten second in his final Triple Crown prep. "Really, you know, we work hard trying to get there," Baffert said. "And so, you know, you get to the point where you were sort of expected to get there. But it’s not easy. "It’s hard, so when you have a horse like Mor Spirit and Cupid that look like they’re going to be competitive, it’s like, it’s an honor to be saying hey, you know what?
Maybe there’s a little hope – a little dream there."
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