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the tutelage of trainer Mike Robbins but, since Robbins wasn’t planning on making the trek to Bay Meadows, Kellys Coffer moved to Baffert’s barn. One of the next outstanding additions to his string was Neats Wonder by Chicks Deck Wonder and out of Neat’s Tonto Bar by Tonto Bars Hank. Neats Wonder wound up with $152,100 to his credit. In the beginning, though, Baffert’s barn was filled with nothing but claiming runners.
It’s been a 20-plus year road for Baffert. Now, he trains for 18 owners; and he refuses to take what he refers to as “just any horse. I’ve always been that way,” he insists. “I was like that in Arizona and I stayed that way after I moved to California. I don’t believe in day money. It’s a waste for the owner,
for the horse, and for me. I can’t work miracles with a horse. No trainer can. The talent is either there or it isn’t. It’s up to the trainer to develop the potential, but a trainer can’t create it.
“I think one of the things for which I’m most grateful is the fact that so many of my Arizona owners stayed with me in California. Kent Schuck, one of my first owners, is still with me along with Bob Kiekeffer and Hal Earnhardt. Kent raises his own horses. Kim Kessinger is another super owner. I would have fallen flat on my face if it hadn’t been for those guys.”
Baffert must have something going for him. In addition to the winning runners he has in his list of credits, he also lays claim to having lost not more than two owners within the last seven years. That, in itself, is a major accomplishment since switching trainers is not highly unusual in this hectic business. How does Baffert feel about that? “Owners have a right to switch,” he says. “After all, they pay the bills.”
It was July of 1986 when the palomino gelding named Gold Coast Express turned up in Baffert’s barn. He’d just won the Clabbertown G, and a more than amusing story preceded the gelding’s arrival. “I used to train for some Arizona folks who had the same last name as Bill Mitchell,” reveals Baffert. “I didn’t have a super relationship with them because they just couldn’t understand why their horses weren’t capable of winning.
“Well, I received a message to call Bill Mitchell and, of course, I thought it was the guy from Arizona. I didn’t return the call. The following night, Sherry, my wife, told me Bill Mitchell had called three times and asked that I please return his call. I muttered to myself and went to the telephone.
“Bill answered the phone and almost immediately asked if I had room for more horses in my barn. I stood there wondering what in the world to do. Finally, I asked him what horses he wanted to send. He wound up thinking I was one cocky son-of-a-gun! He answered: Gold Coast Express. I said: Oh, you’re that Bill Mitchell!
“How did I feel after Gold Coast Express arrived? Simple . . . as if an angel from heaven had dropped down on me. I knew, without a
1986 World Champion Gold Coast Express and rider Danny Cardoza return to trainer Bob Baffert after winning that year’s Champion of Champions. When the gelding arrived at his barn, Baffert said he felt, “. . . as if an angel from heaven had dropped down on me.”
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doubt, good things would come. I knew he
was the fastest horse on the grounds. I’d run Rocky Jones in the Town Policy. Rocky was a good runner and he ran his heart out in that race. Still, Gold Coast Express beat him by 1 1⁄2-lengths. I knew that palomino was super. There was something else. The first horse I ever saw run at Los Alamitos when I was a kid was the yellow Kaweah Bar. I fell in love with that yellow runner and I never forgot him. I watched him gallop, and he was unbelievably great. As a kid, I dreamed I’d have a horse just like him.”
It was 1985 when Baffert and jockey Kip Didericksen hooked up and, according to Baffert, that’s when he really began taking off as a trainer. Shortly before the Clabbertown G, Baffert confided something special to the jockey. He said, “Boy, if I could just one day get a horse like Gold Coast Express. Having him would provide a brand new incentive to go to the barn in the mornings.
“Sure, getting Gold Coast Express was somewhat of a pressure situation. I had everything to lose. The horse was good and everyone knew it. It would be a catastrophe if he didn’t live up to the potential everyone knew he had. I never had a moment’s enjoyment when I first began running that horse. It was a must win situation and it was tough. The very first time
I felt relaxed with him was in the Champion of Champions. Why? Because Cash Rate had all the billing. I honestly didn’t think we’d win that race, but the good things I knew would happen with Gold Coast Express did happen and . . . we won.”
How does Baffert describe the yellow Gold Coast Express now that he’s been responsible for him for more than one year? “He’s an animal,” laughed the trainer. “He’ll eat you alive in the mornings. Don’t misunderstand. He’s not always mean or vicious or ill-tempered, but he’s always on the ready. It’s impossible to gallop
LOOKING BACK - AN EXCERPT FROM JUNE 1987 ISSUE