Bob Baffert has three entries in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby – Game Winner, Improbable and Roadster.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —— The pain of seeing Cavonnier get beat by a nose in his first Kentucky Derby nearly kept trainer Bob Baffert from returning to Churchill Downs.
He figured he would never again have a horse good enough to win on the first Saturday in May.
A year later, though, he won the Derby with Silver Charm and again the next year with Real Quiet. Since the mid-1990s, Baffert has won five Kentucky Derbies and two Triple Crowns while becoming the face of horse racing.
“The Kentucky Derby is still the one,” Baffert said, standing outside his barn in front of a green-and-white sign freshly updated with the names of his Derby and Triple Crown winners. “I could win the Derby and just go home, that kind of race it is.”
He will have three chances to make history Saturday.
Baffert saddles Game Winner, Improbable and Roadster in the 145th Derby. None is the early favorite. That status belongs to Omaha Beach, another California horse that is trained by Richard Mandella, Baffert’s next-door neighbor at Santa Anita.
Game Winner and Improbable already have losses to Omaha Beach this year.
A sixth victory by Baffert would tie him with Ben Jones for most in Derby history.
