Real Quiet about black cats, until now ...

LOUISVILLE — Trainer Bob Baffert doesn’t believe in the so-called “Curse of Apollo,” which is coming up again this week thanks to the Kentucky Derby favourite Justify, but he does have one superstition that he believes cost him two more Triple Crowns.

“Black cats,” he said. “They kill me every time. I can just feel it when I see one. The only thing that gets me is black cats.”

Before Baffert broke the Triple Crown curse in 2015 with American Pharoah, he had two other horses that were good enough to do it: Real Quiet, who came up a nose short in the 1998 Belmont, and Point Given, who was dominant as a 3-year-old with six wins in seven starts — except for his inexplicable fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

Speaking outside Barn 33, where Baffert’s horses have stayed here for more than two decades, he said Tuesday morning his black cat fears traced back to Real Quiet’s preparation at Churchill Downs for the Belmont, right before shipping to New York.

“I was driving in here, and a black cat ran right in front of me,” he said.

Real Quiet ended up losing the Triple Crown to Victory Gallop in the final stride after leading by five lengths at the top of the stretch. Then three years later, his second encounter with a black cat at Churchill purportedly occurred on race day as they were bringing Point Given out to the track as the heavy favourite and one of the mysterious creatures came out of the shadows and jumped right in his path.

“They shouldn’t allow black cats on the backside,” Baffert said.

Superstitions about black cats trace back to the Middle Ages in Europe when they were associated with witchcraft, so Baffert certainly isn’t alone in his fear.

But as long as he can avoid them this week, he will remain pretty confident about his chances Saturday despite Justify having only three races under his belt. If Justify wins, he’ll be the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to do it without racing as a 2-yearold.

Of course, it’s far more common now to bring younger horses along slowly than it was for most of the 20th century, so odds are a horse will win the Derby sooner or later without running as a 2-year-old. “It’ll be broken whether it’s this year or whatever. I think it’s changed. In the modern day we don’t get in a rush with these horses,” Baffert said. “The Apollo curse is something I don’t even think about.”

Just make sure there are no black cats around him on Derby day.