The public just insists.....

[sekrah]

....on ignoring the powers of Bobby B.

Wowsers.

[Tavasco]

I should never never have doubted.

[TGJB]

It wasn\'t just the public. He liked his other horse better.

[atakante]

American Freedom was a mess...his race showed.  Almost 2 minutes flat, very impressive Cupid is a new horse.

[Chas04]

Cupid is no new horse. Just had the magic beans. Just like Chad does.

[jimbo66]

That keeps happening to Baffert....

To be fair to him, Baffert had no idea that American Freedom had no shot - as he was given out by Frank D. as a mortal lock, killing all chances....

On a more serious note - just how ridiculously good is Baffert.  You want him to bring them back off 6+ months and go 1 1/4 miles off the layoff - he will do it.  Bring them back on 2 weeks rest in the Preakness - he can do that too.  

Just the best by a long long ways.

[P-Dub]

jimbo66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That keeps happening to Baffert....
>
> To be fair to him, Baffert had no idea that
> American Freedom had no shot - as he was given out
> by Frank D. as a mortal lock, killing all
> chances....
>
> On a more serious note - just how ridiculously
> good is Baffert.  You want him to bring them back
> off 6+ months and go 1 1/4 miles off the layoff -
> he will do it.  Bring them back on 2 weeks rest in
> the Preakness - he can do that too.  
>
> Just the best by a long long ways.

What does he do that enables him to do this, while many other top trainers apparently can\'t. Just asking.

[hellersorr]

Don\'t know if it\'s all, part or none of the answer but in this very interesting interview of Kent Desormeaux before the 2017 Preakness, Desormeaux talks about a training technique Baffert uses that many (most?) other trainers don\'t.

(Of course, it\'s also hard to get past the obvious thoughts about why Baffert had a bunch of horses die in a short amount of time from heart problems. . . .)

https://www.paulickreport.com/features/triple-crown-countdown/jockey-desormeaux-on-unique-pimlico-track/

[boardedup]

\"I\'m just glad I had two in the race\" BB walking to the winners circle yesterday.  

He seemed shocked at the results himself.  As did everyone, all the talk post race was great the 1 looked, took all the money, Cupid needed a race, OK.  Not taking anything away from him, he\'s clearly the best going, but to his point, it\'s nice when you regularly have multiple (legit) shots in big spots.

[Furious Pete]

Analysis, all though not great in overall last night, were spot on in this race:

\"Often 1st time 4yos from layoff barns, as is Cupid, run new tops. He’s effectively second fastest coming in and a new top may be enough to prevail. Cupid to Win at 5-1 & up, 3H Box w/Midnight Storm, Accelerate. B.\"

Well done.

[sekrah]

boardedup Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> \"I\'m just glad I had two in the race\" BB walking
> to the winners circle yesterday.  
>
> He seemed shocked at the results himself.  As did
> everyone, all the talk post race was great the 1
> looked, took all the money, Cupid needed a race,
> OK.  Not taking anything away from him, he\'s
> clearly the best going, but to his point, it\'s
> nice when you regularly have multiple (legit)
> shots in big spots.


I long stopped believing anything Baffert says publicly. This guy isn\'t entering a horse in a G1 unless he\'s confident of getting a piece of it.  If he thought the horse needed a race, he could have ran him anywhere else or kept training him up to another spot.  His horses don\'t need races.  He gets them ready and when they are ready, he turns them loose.

His \"second fiddle\" horses for a LONG time have shown up to run huge races.  The 1998 Kentucky Derby was about Indian Charlie, Indian Charlie.  The pundits wouldn\'t shut up about Indian Charlie. Publicly, Baffert himself talked up IC, saying that he was a better horse than Silver Charm and had a real shot at the Triple Crown with him.  Don\'t believe for a second that he was surprised by the Derby result that year.

[TGJB]

First of all, I know for a fact what his opinion was before the Gold Cup, not from public statements. He liked the other horse.

First time I met Baffert was for a drink at the Tribecca Grande, couple weeks before the 98 Derby. He was raving about Indian Charlie, I said \"don\'t overlook your other horse, I like him better\". That definitely came as a surprise to him.

That year was Real Quiet/Victory Gallop, we ran into each other a few times along the way.