Word: baffert
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Dates: during 1997-1997
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...June 7 at New York's Belmont Park, all eyes--as well as many bets and hopes--will be on Silver Charm, a 3-year-old gunmetal gray colt by Silver Buck out of Bonnie's Poker; and his trainer, Bob Baffert, a 44-year-old silver-haired charmer by an Arizona cattle rancher out of a schoolteacher. Together, along with jockey Gary Stevens and owners Bob and Beverly Lewis, they have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the first two jewels of the Triple Crown. This Saturday they will try to win the third, the Belmont...
With that, Baffert wiped at his watery eyes and blew his nose. Sentimental? No, actually he's allergic to hay and horses; always has been. That's just one of the anomalies on Baffert's past-performance chart. He grew up on the family ranch in Nogales, Ariz., rode quarter horses without much success, became something of a party animal while majoring in animal science at the University of Arizona, tried substitute teaching for a while, worked in a Tucson feed store for another while, then gravitated back to quarter horses as a trainer. He found his calling...
Thoroughbred training and quarter-horse training are obviously a breed apart, but the latter requires a horse sense and work ethic that Baffert put to good use once he decided to run with the big boys. His first major success came with Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1992. By 1995 he was the leading trainer at Santa Anita. At last year's Kentucky Derby, he saddled Cavonnier, who lost by a nose to Grindstone--trained by Lukas. "I actually thought we had the race won," says Baffert, "so when they posted the results, it felt like...
Days before that wrenching finish, Baffert received a videotape of a 2-year-old gray that was up for sale in Ocala, Fla. According to Baffert, "he had a beautiful long stride, absolutely effortless, and a quarter-mile time that was pretty damn good. But I hadn't seen him in person, so this was like buying on the Home Shopping Network." Baffert's offer of $85,000 was accepted, and Silver Charm was his. The horse had been overlooked for a number of reasons. He was literally an ugly yearling, hairless because of mange. His breeding wasn't very...