Baffert recalls Belmont experience with American Pharoah

American Pharoah gave Baffert ‘a vibe that he was going to do it’ heading into the Belmont Stakes  (Adam Coglianese Photo) Bob Baffert, unmistakable with his snow white hair, signature jeans and cowboy boots, was back on the beat early Thursday morning at Santa Anita, radio in hand, calling the shots for his blueblood stock before heading to Kentucky where Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) will go back to the track at Churchill Downs Friday morning. Baffert, who handled the media frenzy on the Triple Crown trail with typical carefree aplomb, calling on his experience from being down the path three times previously, took time to recount American Pharoah’s front-running triumph in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes (G1) under regular rider Victor Espinoza last Saturday, winning by 5 1/2 lengths to become the first horse to capture racing’s most elusive and coveted prize since Affirmed in 1978. “American Pharoah has a high cruising speed and he wants to dominate, and it’s neat to watch him run like that,” Baffert said. “All the way down the backside, even though I could barely see, you could tell he was having fun. When he got to the three-quarter (mark), he was still pulling on Victor. “You could tell by Victor’s body language that on the far turn the other jockeys had a lot of respect for the horse. Watching the replays, Materiality (Afleet Alex) had to work just to hold his spot in second. At the three-eighths pole he was still there and the one horse (Mubtaahij [Dubawi]) made a run, and I knew he had great stamina because Mike de Kock is a great trainer and his horse had trained for a mile and a half, but then I could see he was struggling.

“(Joel) Rosario saved ground and rode a really good race on the gray horse
(Frosted [Tapit], who would finish second). He tilted him out there and we
really didn’t know how good he was, but turning for home, you could tell Victor
was really loaded for bear.

“Secretariat, when he turned for home, he was like that. Victor could have
easily left a little bit earlier to separate himself, but he took care of the
horse, just sat on him, and when he asked him to go, he just took off with him.

“Victor got to take it all in, although he said he didn’t hear the crowd
noise. That shows what was going through his head. He was enjoying it, and
that’s got to be the greatest feeling for a jockey, to know that you’re actually
going to win the race in the first turn. You just hope nothing drastic happens
from there to the wire.

“Going into the Belmont, the horse gave us a vibe that he was going to do it.
People in the industry and in the stands at Belmont felt it was time, this is
the horse, and that’s the vibe I felt going in there. I knew when I saddled him
he was doing better than for all the other races.

“I told that to Victor and when I did, his eyes just lit up. I said, ‘You can
be aggressive. He’s going to give it to you.’ And Victor said the minute he
jumped on his back in the paddock, he just gushed. I think they know when they
get on them, and Victor looked at me like, ‘Hey, he’s ready.’

“You have to have great people around you and I’m really fortunate that I
don’t have to worry about anything. I would get completely burned out if I had
to do this on my own. You can’t do it without a great staff.

“But the horse just gave me that vibe. We were just worried about the
break…but once he hustled him to the lead, the horse got rolling and he
doesn’t use much energy. He’s so quick he can just get to a spot, and once he
did, that was it.”

Baffert was non-committal on when American Pharoah would run next.

“Everybody’s trying to pin me down,” Baffert said. “He’s going to go back to
the track (Friday). Jimmy (assistant Jim Barnes) said the horse is getting
pretty anxious to get back, so he’ll train, he’ll come here (to Santa Anita, on
June 18) and we’ll look for something.

“Our options are the Jim Dandy (G2) and the Travers (G1) (at Saratoga), the
Haskell (G1) (at Monmouth), but first I’ve got to see how he is. Everybody’s
dying to be the first one to get the news. As soon as he crossed the wire,
everybody was asking, ‘Where is he running next?’

“But the whole key is how the horse is doing.”

Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella summed up best the feelings of
Baffert’s peers at Santa Anita when he shook his hand and told him Thursday
morning, “You made us all proud.”

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