Pre-race tumble, Authentic win after Baffert outmaneuvers Tagg
“Bittersweet” doesn’t come close to describing the year Bob Baffert, America’s most famous horse trainer, is having. He’s had a parade of Kentucky Derby contenders, but injuries stopped Nadal, Charlatan and – on Derby Day itself – Thousand Words, winner of three stakes races. The colt reared up in the paddock, banged himself on the head and entered concussion protocol. He was automatically scratched from Saturday’s Churchill Downs classic.
Baffert’s assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes fractured a hand trying to restrain a horse who panicked in the midst of so many more horses and people than he’s accustomed to meeting in this empty pandemic world. The Derby field, which has suffered record attrition, was reduced from its usual 20 starters to 16. But one who remained was Authentic, a Baffert trainee who’s more prone to misbehavior than Thousand Words. As irony would have it, Authentic went on to dominate the 146th Kentucky Derby from start to finish.
Well, the start itself was not dominating. As he tends to do, Authentic broke awkwardly, looking to his right. But his jockey, John Velazquez, quickly set him straight and hustled him through traffic to the lead, before the turn.
Odds-on favorite Tiz the Law ran him down at the end of the second turn. But after Velazquez followed Baffert’s advice by striking with the whip in his left hand when Authentic is challenged, his colt resurged. He won the 1 ¼-mile race by 1 ¼ lengths, at 8/1 odds. The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports was actually 2:00.61 – seventh-fastest Derby ever.
In the Winner’s Circle, Baffert switched from broad smiles to choked-up remorse as he lamented the absence of his right-hand man: “Jimmy should be here with me, and he’s in an ambulance.”
The 67-year-old Baffert was gracious, as he usually is, refusing to bask in a sixth Derby win that ties him with Ben A. Jones for the record. The white-mopped trainer deflected the glory to Velazquez, who won the roses for the third time.
“Johnny V gave him the most incredible ride,” Baffert said, acknowledging the difficulty of controlling a colt who’s “a bit of a head case.”
The withdrawals of Art Collector, Shirl’s Speight and King Guillermo left Baffert with the only natural front runner. The question was whether a colt who faded in races of 1 1/8 miles could hang on to win at 1 ¼.
The expectation of the betting public was that Tiz the Law, who easily won the Travers Stakes at 1 ¼, would repeat at that distance. What many overlooked was that the Triple Crown contender was compromised by running the longest and fastest race of his young career, just four weeks prior to the most important one. He was victimized by what’s known in the industry as “bounce.”
Tiz the Law’s trainer, 82-year-old Barclay Tagg, had stated that “the Travers means more to me than the Kentucky Derby.”
Never mind that the “Mid-Summer Derby” has a purse of $1.25 million compared to the Kentucky Derby’s $3 million. The Saratoga Springs race is the favorite sporting event of New York horsemen, including those who own Tiz the Law.
So while The Law was tested fully by his final grueling prep, Baffert plotted an easier assignment for Authentic. He won the Haskell Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, on July 18. Baffert considered the 7-week gap between the Haskell and the Derby as ideal. “He was training lights-out,” he said of Authentic’s Derby preparations. “He was fresh.”
Even though Into Mischief has sired few colts who’ve succeeded at 1 ¼ miles, Baffert all along has cited Authentic as an exception, pointing out that he wasn’t heaving at the conclusions of races. “He was our number one pick from the beginning,” said Baffert, who never jumped onto the bandwagons of his more celebrated 3-year-olds: Nadal, Charlatan, Cezanne, Uncle Chuck. The speedy Charlatan not only suffered a leg injury but was disqualified from an Arkansas Derby win because of a drug test that brought Baffert a 15-day suspension.
With Authentic the challenge was finding a jockey who could keep him both alert and relaxed. Drayden Van Dyke was not quite up to the task, so the reins were handed to Mike Smith for the Haskell. Baffert wanted to stay with Smith, but the Hall of Famer opted instead for Honor A.P., whom he rode to fourth place Saturday.
Baffert settled for another Hall of Famer, Velazquez, who delivered a more aggressive ride than was likely from the methodical Smith.
A 48-year-old Puerto Rican who moved to New York, Velazquez was aware of protests that have been almost daily in Louisville since March 13, when a local medical technician, Breonna Taylor, was shot to death in her bed by police with a no-knock warrant. The cops were seeking evidence in a narcotics investigation. They found nothing and have yet to be arrested for using such excessive force.
Asked about the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Velazquez said after the race: “If we had true equality for all, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are now in.”
That contrasted with Tagg’s comments about “these rioters. You’re not allowed to shoot them, and they’re allowed to shoot you. That’s what it looks like to me.”
“This is what we’re dealing with,” said a frustrated Tamika Mallory. She was one of the people protesting on Saturday afternoon, a mile from Churchill Downs. It was, in so many ways, a bittersweet Derby. But I like how NBC concluded its broadcast: “It was Baffert. It was Velazquez. It was Authentic.”
