John Clay: Controversy will never be behind him, but Bob Baffert is back where he belongs

John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader on Apr 29, 2025

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bob Baffert looks a little thinner to me, but maybe that’s because we haven’t seen him in awhile. Not in person, anyway. There are a few more wrinkles on his 72-year-old face, but there’s still the signature shock of white hair and the ever-present sunglasses.

In case you haven’t heard, Bob is back. After what turned into a three-year suspension from the disqualification of his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit over a positive test for a trace amount of the corticosteroid betamethasone, horse racing’s most famous and most controversial trainer is back at Churchill Downs, this time for the 151st running of America’s most famous race.

Actually, Baffert was back at Churchill last November to see his horse Barnes win a race and to also tour the new paddock. That was four months after he finally halted his legal fight against the track over the 2021 DQ and CDI dropped its Baffert ban, which had gone from professional to personal.

How did the two sides mend fences?

“That’s a big secret,” Baffert said Friday during his first gaggle with reporters outside his old home at Barn No. 33.

Yes, the sense of humor is still there. And that impish grin. When his 2-year-old champion Citizen Bull drew the kiss-of-death No. 1 post position on Saturday night for Kentucky Derby 151, Baffert joked that, “I wish I had a challenge flag. If I had it, I would have thrown it.”

I, for one, am glad Bob’s back. I remain a Baffert backer. Churchill was right to take action against the trainer for repeated transgressions. Baffert would have been better off to accept the penalty and move on instead of keeping the story in the headlines with a prolonged legal fight. Still, as the winning trainer in six Kentucky Derbys — tying Ben Jones — as well as the trainer of two Triple Crown winners, Baffert has introduced plenty of non-racing fans to the sport.

His safety record has been near spotless since that 2021 Kentucky Derby. He’s run horses from coast-to-coast, from Santa Anita to Saratoga, without a problem.

He’s far from the only highly successful trainer to be reprimanded, fined or suspended for medical violations. Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen are among those on that list. It’s just that Baffert’s profile is the highest.

He says now he holds no hard feelings, that he has turned the page, doesn’t look back and is just glad to be back where horse racing is treated with such importance.

“Everyone’s been really nice to me,” Baffert said after Saturday’s draw. “They say they are happy to see me, and I’m happy to be back.”

Still, I don’t think it’s reading too much into it to say that Baffert remains stung by what took place. He’d have to be. He appears a little more hesitant to talk to the media — he turned down requests Sunday after his Wood Memorial winner Rodriguez worked at Churchill, then talked briefly Monday after Citizen Bull completed a 5-furlong work.

Monday morning, the website Radar Online posted a piece referring to Baffert as a “drugger.” To the casual race fan, ones who don’t regularly follow the sport, and especially in these days of social media, that’s a difficult rep to completely shake.

Are you the face of racing?

“I’m clickbait,” said Baffert with a bit of a chuckle. “That’s what I’ve become.”

Neither of his horses will be favored Saturday. Citizen Bull is coming off a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby. Baffert admits that he shipped Rodriguez to New York for the Wood Memorial to avoid presumptive Derby favorite Journalism.

“He’s a good horse and Mike McCarthy has done a tremendous job getting him ready,” said Baffert of the Santa Anita Derby winner and his trainer. “He should be the Derby favorite.”

So what did Baffert do on the three Derby days he wasn’t allowed to race? He said he went to a couple of Derby parties, then held his own party at his house last year.

Did it hurt to watch it on television?

“Not at all,” he said. “My greatest memories are the Kentucky Derby and they will always be.”

He’s still hoping to make another.