Bob Baffert Quotes (54 Quotes)

The weather scares me. I hope the track isn't too hard.

Those were nice horses in that race, (but) this horse is a speed freak.

He ran with a quarter-crack in Florida, and I brought him back (to California) to give him a break. He's a heavy horse and needs a race, but it will set him up for the Breeders' Cup.

There was nothing they could do with this type of injury, ... It's the kind that won't heal, and they usually founder and suffer.

When the prince died, the horses were like orphans. But these horses, they're like family. And to have a horse who might be a Kentucky Derby contender, that's the best medicine.

We thought with his speed, coming here, he's extremely fast, and Garrett worked him the other day and he was pretty impressed with the way he worked. He worked awesome. If you want to find out if you belong in the Derby, run against the big boys.

He was just so keen he wanted to run off. I think a lot of it is maturity. We're just glad he's a fast son of a gun.

You always want to come to the Derby with a good horse. And we're back here now with three really good horses. It feels nice.

I didn't think he was a Derby horse until he won the Santa Anita Derby. He and War Emblem, they were crying out for more distance. Most horses can get a mile or a mile and a sixteenth, but what separates them is when they stretch out to a mile and an eigh

Silver Charm had the ideal running style. You could put him on the lead, or take back. He was smart and intelligent, a push-button horse to ride.

The best horses this year are in California.

Midnight Lute is very talented. As long as we keep him healthy, he has a bright future. He looks like a great prospect.

He looked pretty awesome today. He sat off that pace and I really liked how he was extending. Victor tells me this horse is better than we thought.

Plus, out here in California you have these speed-favoring tracks, so there was a lot going against him.

I would never say he's the fastest 3-year-old sprinter on the West Coast. Every time you say something like that another one pops put to prove you wrong. But I would say he's one of the fastest.

This is just devastating for me and my team. It was a routine gallop. He was turning into the stretch and when he switched to his right lead that's when it happened. We had a bunch of different vets look at him to see if surgery was possible. They got together and they all said they wouldn't. The sesamoids are really difficult to save a horse.

This is a very nice young horse. He changes every month because he's so young. When you have a horse that good with that kind of breeding, you know he's going to get better. This was a good test.

The only thing you learned is that he's a good horse. It was a good test and we got a lot out of it.

I just hope it doesn't rain too much. She's much better going two turns but this is a grade I and you've got to get the black type if you can.

It's part of horse racing you never really get used to, ... These horses are like our children, so when something happens like that it's pretty devastating for everybody involved. When it's unexpected like that, it makes it worse.

It's important to every trainer to be in the Derby and I've been lucky enough to have some good horses in it. We are in the picture this year but we've got a long way to go.

This track was perfect for him. He's a good horse.

With Forestry, finally the light came on. He became a good horse and reeled off five in a row.

You've got to have a good horse, but you've got to have the trip. I think Senor Swinger deserves to be in there. He's a good miler. He's very sharp right now.

I thought the other horse was going to blow by. To hold on like he did shows his quality. This was a gut check. Class always prevails. If he could have gone slower, he probably could have won by more.

He needs distance. When they start running a mile-and-an-eighth, that's when the cream rises to the top.

I remember one time I called him and I said, 'Bob, you sound good. He says, 'Well, unfortunately, there's nothing wrong with my vocal cords.

Those statues are once-in-a-lifetime guys. He was a once-in-a-lifetime guy. He showed kindness and he was a man of his word and a man of his honor. Someday, I'd like to saddle a horse and see a statue of Bob Lewis in the garden.

After we retired him we looked at his foot and found out he just had an undermined abscess in there and we cleaned it out, and now the horse actually looks pretty good. As a matter of fact, if the Breeders Cup was just another couple weeks away, we could probably run him in it. Stud farms are interested in him, but we left the window open a little bit. He actually could have a lot of racing left in him.

You can't say never. You have to wait until you see all the (Kentucky Derby) preps. Brother Derek is exceptional but right now it's not out of the question. We've got to look at the whole picture. A whole lot happens between now and then.

Sinister Minister, you can't control. He just runs off. ... He's a runaway train.

Just goes to show you that there is so much speed in California, it's like a vacation when you get away from there.

When I saw 22, I thought that wasn't bad. I didn't want to see 21. She's so fast.

It's like playing poker. Eventually your hand will come. You have to be lucky, but you still have to have a good horse. I have a couple of good ones.

I always told him he should have done a video on how to be a racehorse owner. He had a passion for it and he had fun and he could take the knocks.

In order to win the Santa Anita Derby, we would have really had to pressed Brother Derek hard. Brother Derek is a very nice horse. I think it was a good race for Point Determined. He could have been a little closer, but he finally kicked in at the end. He got beat 3 12 lengths by the best three-year-old, and it gives you something to work with. He finished real strong, and he's not one-dimensional, which would give him a little advantage if there is a real heavy pace in the Derby .

He's learned to relax a little bit. I almost ran him in the Hollywood Futurity, but I wanted to give him more time.

Everything went good everything went to plan. Point of Impact, he's not running. We'll find a race for him. Running three in there is enough.

When you've got a 20-horse field and a fast pace, anything can happen out there.

This horse, and the rest of the horses, helped keep Bob going in his fight. For Beverly and Jeff, Point Determined has helped them get through a tough time. The kids lost a dad, Beverly lost a husband. It was a tough day when he died, so it was really neat when this horse won.

You try to get excited, but it's not healthy. You can't get excited until you get to this time of year.

He reminded me a lot of Silver Charm, ... I think thats why this was so emotional. He has the same demeanor, very noble, gallant, and very tough. Theyre just these freaks of nature. They know theyre good. Its hard to get one like that. I think Im still in

After watching him today, I might be leaning towards the Sprint,

You like to go into the Derby with a horse that has a chance to win. This horse showed me something ... He really poured it on today.

Point Given was a beast and War Emblem had to have the lead. This horse is learning from every race. He's picking up at a good time of the year with the Breeders' Cup around the corner.

He ran great, ... We feel that he got beat by the best older horse in training right now. I'm just going to wait and see what happens before I decide if he'll go to the Breeders' Cup.

We never thought in 1991 that six years later we'd be making that historic walk with Silver Charm. We looked like a couple of teenagers walking through there.

He went very nice. This is the best he's gone in a long time. The way he worked today, the Breeders' Cup Sprint would probably be highly likely for him if he continues the way he's going. He's a quick horse. He's fast.

It's just the way the chips fall. We try to get here every year. Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield. That's the way it works in this business.

The horse is waking up at just the right time. When he got to the quarter pole, I thought, 'Son of a gun, I'm going to win the Blue Grass.