Bob Baffert: 2025 Kentucky Derby Trainer Profile

Bob Baffert has been one of the most recognizable trainers in the world during his decades-long career training thoroughbreds, and he remains in the spotlight today. With six victories in the Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert is tied with Ben Jones for the most victories in the history of the Run for the Roses. Those six include a pair of Triple Crown winners: American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.

Bob Baffert was barred by Churchill Downs between 2022 and 2024. He makes news as he returns to the track for the first Saturday in May for the first time since 2021, when Medina Spirit crossed the wire first but was later disqualified from the race for a positive test. He was placed last after that finding, with long shot Mandaloun put up to first. He was suspended nationwide for three months in 2022 for that, but Churchill Downs did not lift its suspension until 2024.

Baffert returned to the Louisville track in November 2024 with Barnes, who won a maiden special weight race. Barnes will not run in the Kentucky Derby after finishing well beaten in the Santa Anita Derby, but Baffert has two contenders in his return to the most exciting two minutes in sports: Wood Memorial winner Rodriguez and Eclipse Award winner Citizen Bull.

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Bob Baffert in the Kentucky Derby

Though Baffert has not run a horse in the Kentucky Derby since 2021, he has had much success in the greatest two minutes in sports in recent decades. His six winners from 36 starters include Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), American Pharoah (2015), Justify (2018), and Authentic (2020). Among those, American Pharoah and Justify won the Triple Crown, and all but Authentic also won the Preakness Stakes.

In addition to his six winners, he has six other runners who have finished in the money. They date back to 1996, his first ever year starting a horse in the Run for the Roses, when Cavonnier finished second to Grindstone. His other money finishers include Indian Charlie (third in 1998), Congaree (third in 2001), Pioneerof the Nile (second in 2009), Bodemeister (second in 2012), and Dortmund (third in 2015).

Baffert has trained nine Kentucky Derby favorites, including two who were part of a coupled entry in 1999. Both of his winning favorites, American Pharoah and Justify, won the Triple Crown. Only two of his other favorites hit the board, Indian Charlie and Bodemeister.

Bob Baffert in the Triple Crown

Baffert has started 26 horses in the Preakness Stakes and won the second jewel of the Triple Crown eight times, leading all trainers. Six of those winners have also won the Kentucky Derby: meaning every horse of his that has won the Kentucky Derby has also won the Preakness. (Note that Medina Spirit, who had not yet been disqualified by Churchill Downs from the Kentucky Derby at the time, contested the Preakness but only ran third behind Rombauer in the race.) His other winners of the Preakness who did not win the Kentucky Derby are Lookin at Lucky in 2010 and National Treasure in 2023. In addition to his winners, Baffert has hit the board with four other runners.

Across the three Triple Crown races, Bob Baffert has the fewest starters in the Belmont Stakes, with just 13 runners in the final jewel of the Triple Crown. He has three winners in the race: Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify, as well as 2001 winner Point Given, the beaten Kentucky Derby favorite who went on to win the next two races in the series. He has three second-place finishers in the race, as well.

2025 Kentucky Derby Contender Rodriguez

Rodriguez kept coming up short earlier in the Kentucky Derby prep season, but in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby, he became Baffert’s top Kentucky Derby point earner of the 2025 series after a wire-to-wire victory in the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.

Two-Year-Old Season

Rodriguez, a son of Baffert’s 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, raced only once as a juvenile. He debuted in a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight at Del Mar on November 23. He battled on the early pace, but could not match stablemate Romanesque through the lane and had to settle for second best. He was beaten 2 ¼ lengths for the win, but it was another 9 ½ lengths to the closest competitor behind him.

Three-Year-Old Season

Rodriguez made his sophomore debut in a maiden special weight at Santa Anita on January 4, stretching out to a mile on the Santa Anita dirt, and was sent off as the 1-2 favorite. He took a bit of pace pressure early, but galloped clear to reward the bettors’ favoritism, winning by seven lengths over the well-regarded Baeza. That victory earned him a ticket to the Kentucky Derby trail.

His stakes debut came in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita on February 1. With Citizen Bull in the field, Rodriguez could not get the frontrunning ride he got in his maiden win. He tracked in range of the champion, but was left to chase on for second, 3 ¾ lengths back.

Something similar to the previous race happened in the San Felipe (G2), March 1 at Santa Anita. He did not make the top over another stablemate, Barnes, but tried to stalk the pace. He proved no match for likely Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism or pacesetter Barnes, and crossed the wire third, 11 ¼ lengths back.

Baffert gave Rodriguez a trip to the East Coast for his final prep. In the Wood Memorial, April 5 at Aqueduct, Rodriguez drew the rail in a 10-horse field. Despite that challenging draw, rider Mike Smith was able to speed him to the lead, a position he never surrendered. He crossed the wire 3 ½ lengths clear of promising Todd Pletcher trainee Grande, earning 100 Kentucky Derby points and cementing his spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs for America’s greatest race.

2025 Kentucky Derby Contender Citizen Bull

In Baffert’s deep group of juveniles in 2024, Citizen Bull emerged to stand at the top of the group. As horses have developed, Citizen Bull does not appear to loom over his foes the same way he might have at two, but he earned enough points to make the Kentucky Derby field, and he will have a chance to reassert himself among the best on the first Saturday in May.

Two-Year-Old Season

Citizen Bull hit the ground running as a juvenile, winning a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight on debut August 17 at Del Mar. He pressed the pace set by Smash It, the only one in the field with any previous experience, and outslugged that foe down the lane to win by three-quarters of a length. That win earned him a ticket to graded-stakes company, where he has run ever since.

The son of Into Mischief tried Grade 1 company for the first time on September 8 in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity. Instead of being close to the pace, he was near the rear of the field early. He never threatened the winner that day, his stablemate Gaming, but he chased on well enough to save third.

The stretch out to two turns brought out the better side of Citizen Bull. He tried 1 1/16 miles for the first time in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) on October 5 at Santa Anita. He took some pace pressure early from favored stablemate Getaway Car, but turned that foe back and opened up to win by two lengths, earning his first top-level win and a ticket to the Breeders’ Cup.

The bettors ignored Citizen Bull in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, sending him off at 15-1 odds, but he nonetheless cemented his place at the head of his class. Jockey Martin Garcia got him out to the lead, he spurned a bid from stablemate Gaming, and he kept on running down the lane to secure a 1 ½-length victory. It earned him his second Grade 1 win, an Eclipse award, a place in history, and the status as the horse to beat heading into the next year.

Three-Year-Old Season

Citizen Bull has run twice as a sophomore. He made his seasonal debut in the Robert B. Lewis (G3), a Kentucky Derby prep on February 1 at Santa Anita. He bobbled a bit early but still found plenty to make the lead. He had to turn back an early bid from long-shot foe Clock Tower, but kept on running and won by 3 ¾ lengths over his stablemate Rodriguez.

The waters got deeper for Citizen Bull in his final Kentucky Derby prep, the Santa Anita Derby. There, he had to face Journalism for the first time, and he proved no match on the day. He battled with stablemate Westwood early in the race, but could not match either Journalism or Baeza in the lane. He weakened late, ultimately finishing fourth in the field of five. However, with enough points in other races, Baffert and his ownership group decided to keep Citizen Bull pointed toward Churchill Downs and the most exciting two minutes in sports.

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