Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Baffert targeting Preakness after ‘most emotional Derby’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In vivid contrast to the previous day, Sunday morning at Churchill Downs was a place of serenity.
Bob Baffert, who on Saturday tied the legendary Ben A. Jones for the all-time record for most wins (six) by a Kentucky Derby trainer when Authentic triumphed under John Velazquez, made a morning-after appearance at his Barn 33 in front of just a handful of media – as opposed to the usual swarm that congregates in non-coronavirus years.
It was a stark reversal from Saturday, when Baffert lived through the wildest episode of his Hall of Fame career.
“It was the most crazy 30 minutes I’ve had in racing,” he said.
On a day already fraught with tension and anxiety related to the ongoing global pandemic and hundreds of social-justice protestors marching outside the Churchill gates, Baffert suffered the bitter disappointment of having to scratch one of his two Derby starters, Thousand Words, when the colt reared up and fell onto his side while his handlers attempted to saddle him in the paddock. Baffert’s longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes suffered a fractured right wrist in the incident.
It wasn’t long after that Authentic took the lead passing under the wire the first time in the 1 1/4-mile Derby before turning away heavily favored Tiz the Law in a stirring stretch run. It was an incredible turn of events, one that had Baffert choking back tears several times in the post-race aftermath.
“To me, that was the most emotional Derby I’ve ever been involved in because of what happened during that little time frame,” Baffert said. “It was just something.”
Authentic emerged in good order from his fifth win in six career starts. He will remain based at Churchill for the next few weeks in the barn of D. Wayne Lukas, while Baffert eventually returns home to California after attending the upcoming yearling sales at Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland in Lexington.
The Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore remains the last Triple Crown event on the 2020 calendar – the Belmont Stakes, normally the third and final leg, was won by Tiz the Law on June 20. It appears Authentic could be a solid favorite for the Preakness on Oct. 3, assuming Tiz the Law won’t run. His trainer, Barclay Tagg, indicated Saturday that would likely be the case so that he could instead focus on the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland for the New Yorkbred colt.
On Sunday morning, Tagg was less sure about the Preakness when waving off questions about it.
“Well, I don’t want to put that in the paper too much,” he said. “I just have to see how he is.”
Tiz the Law, now 0 for 2 at Churchill while being undefeated in six starts at other tracks, was scheduled to return Tuesday to Tagg’s barn at Belmont Park in New York.
Thousand Words, unscathed by the paddock incident, also will remain with Lukas as a possible starter in the Preakness.
Honor A. P., a non-threatening fourth as the second choice in the Derby wagering, returned to California on a Monday equine charter flight. Asked what might be next for the colt, trainer John Shirreffs said: “I haven’t even thought about that . . . we’ll see.”
Meanwhile, Barnes was at the Baffert barn before dawn Sunday, even while still needing surgery on his mangled wrist. He flew home to California later in the morning and was to undergo surgery there. Before leaving, he perfectly summed up the way his Saturday unfolded by saying: “You can be on the floor – and then be up in the sky, soaring.”