Bob Baffert: Building a Race Horsing Empire | Undeniable with Joe Buck

[Music] [Music] my guest tonight has been called an outcast a loud mouth and a horse whisperer since arriving on the thoroughbred racing scene with his cowboy hat and pickup truck Robert Anthony bafford has dominated the racing world he was the first trainer in history to train both Kentucky Derby and pness winners in consecutive years ranks third alltime with 12 Triple Crown race wins and most famously achieving a feat only 11 others have done before him and that is winning the Triple Crown but before he cemented his place in horse racing history did you know that he began racing horses as a jockey in the Border Town of nogalas Arizona bought his first thorough bread for a poultry $30,000 and turned it into a Breeders Cup winner just a few years later and that he nearly won the Triple Crown three different times before finally getting it done with American Pharaoh tonight we'll learn about what makes this undeniable icon who he is a man who once said my fault I was born with a personality ladies and gentlemen please welcome horse racing Hall of Famer Bob baffer thank you my friend thank you we we put a call into American Pharaoh the horse he was unavailable I'm not good at interviewing horses I want to interview the man who put this whole thing together and it's it's a fascinating fascinating story for somebody that grew up on this Border Town in nogalus your father was a Rancher your mother was a school teacher you had a tight-knit family well I was the um I was a one of seven I was number four of the of the family but um but will we grew up on a ranch and we had cows and we had chickens we had an egg business which is probably the most disgusting business you can get into I mean just the smell but um my father was really he was a great father my parents were great I really I I really feel really fortunate you know the way I grew up that uh my father he did not we he did not leave anything on the left on the table what what how would you characterize him tough love guy Allin supportive I was probably the closest to him I I went with him everywhere and um so he loved he worked really really hard and I remember he bought our Ranch he wanted to be a Rancher the day I was born he signed the papers and so um he was very um really he made sure that we got everything we needed but he was tough he was like always he might to make sure if he called you or he made us work if if we came home after school and he saw us playing basketball we had this little basketball court in the D he says oh you want oh you guys have energy you got to come down there to the barn and you know do something so so he wanted to make sure that you know he put a little work ethic into us and we all had to we had to do chores and we had to do everything else but uh his release was the horses my uncle and him they own these these little quarter horse mares and somebody told him that they were bred maybe to run so he bred it so they started he sent it to some trainer in Texas or and I used to go with him I remember I was like you know 8 n years old and we got into racing Court of horses which they they're full board for like 350 yards they're quar of Mile tops but I remember I really didn't get into horses until I was probably like 10 years old and I had a being that there was seven of us I don't know how my mother allowed this but she let me go with a friend to Mexico this friend of theirs had a ranch in Mexico and like and he we flew in a little one single propeller Bonanza airplane I remember that landed on a dirt road a dirt air in Mexico and we were 10 years old and we went on this cattle drive in Mexico for three days and we were sleeping in sleeping bags on the ground and I thought I would never let my 10-year-old now do something like that you know you never see the kid again with no iPhone or nothing you know so and after riding in that in for 3 days I really got attached to horses that's what really I got a bug for it I want to be a jockey and ride the races and U my father he got me going he was like the the the the father that takes his kid buys him the clubs takes him to practice do all that and um he was my number one cheerleader stand up for a second okay now I'm 6'2 you're you're not not maybe a little under 62 I heard the whisper over there okay I'm not 6'2 so let's everybody get up 61 plus but you're tall enough to where the idea of you being a jockey is crazy to me I've been around jockeys how how were you trying to be a jockey well to I wanted to be a I was exercising all the horses since I was 14 and I was small I was always like about 54 and I wanted to be a jockey because it was like almost being a jockey I thought it like almost like being a rock star you know you felt like oh I'm getting these horses and and it's it's a rush when you ride a quarter horse it they're fast they just fall out of the gate but in my my first ride as a jockey was it was pretty bad it was I'll never forget that so you got to remember this is in the Arizona fairs where it's pretty the racing is pretty like a lot of degenerates and the and the jockeys are these in racing no old you know I had this little cheap little watch and stuff and and I had like like $5 in my pocket and and I I went to ride the horse and I came back and I went to I go where's my $5 my watch was gone it's like son you can't take anything in here you can't these guys but it was like it was like I learned right away you cannot take jewelry or anything in those little it was a super Bush track so um but I'll never forget I was in uh Flagstaff Arizona and I needed three rides to get my license and so all of a sudden I'm in the room and somebody says hey bafford uh do you want to ride the this guy wants you to ride this horse this horse called sizzling snark I go who really and like he was one of the favorites and I thought why so I I walked out I got to go see who this guy is and I looked down and it's this little old man that I had got to known in presca just talking having me he liked me so he says he wants you to ride the jockey didn't show up it was going to ride the horse I had not W to race yet it was my fourth ride ever so we get in the gate and the races that I Ren before I'd gotten beat so badly it was like you know so I came out of the gate he breaks great I'm on him and I'm riding and all of a sudden I look up and I'm like I'm on the lead and I'm like looking around and I see and I was sort of like in shock and I see this like the two horse was coming out or the horse was and he's coming at at me like and this jockey whipping him like he's like he's going to run over me like like wow so I start I get my whip out I hit them and I'm just trying to get away and I look up there's the finish line and I and I I win the race and it was like I thought I'd won the Kentucky Derby I'm telling you it was like the greatest it was the greatest when I pull that horse out that's awesome thank you and it was I've had like like some five six highlights in my life in it it was just like the greatest feeling you know I'm wondering if your experience as a jockey is unique among the training world and if that gives you a little bit of an edge when you compare yourself to other trainers I don't imagine that's a typical way of getting into your business is it well there was a lot of top jockeys and when they tell stories about me they always say yeah Bob I remember when you were trying to ride see that's a difference hurs there was this jockey his name was Bobby Adair and I was at relo Park in Tucson and he asked me I was a jockey there and he goes are you going to come out to Los alaminos this summer and I said no no I'm not going to come out there and he says why not and he goes cuz I'm not good enough and he says if you think you're not good enough you need to quit because if you stay here they're going to kill you this is this is not you this bush tracks this is not this is not good so I I quit the next day you know I just like man it just he was he really you know he was one of the best C jock and I I idolized this guy so it was you know you just you take I've learned so much from just the greats the greats for some reason they uh they just tell it plain and simple so you go from training first you're riding then you're training quarter horses and then you make the leap relatively later in life in your 30s into thoroughbred racing and first of all the name Mike Pam is a name that's attached early on in your career as a trainer talk talk us through that transition and and and how how and why you went you went to the Big Show there well I was I was you know once I got my cter horse business going I was I was pretty you know we had a lot of success in Arizona and um I had a client Hal Earnhart from Phoenix Arizona and he knew Mike pegrum and he got Mike to buy into one of the quarter horses and so I got to know Mike and all that so after about a year he he met with me and he said why don't you he had a partner and uh he said why don't you uh would you ever think about trying third breads I said well I don't know I I would I don't know I would I I guess I could but it would take you know I need a lot of money behind me and um so he's thinking well what do you think I says at least like 300,000 they started laughing like 300,000 I thought you were going to say like a million cuz we were we want to give you a million like wow I you know like did I say 300,000 I exactly right so so I said well I'll do it but give let me give me a chance to um let me I don't know what I'm doing I have to go over there and let me claim you know buy some cheaper horses and let me work with it and stuff so the first time I went to Sanita I took a horse to run and I didn't know what I couldn't even get up to the box seats cuz I didn't have a pass or nothing I had a watch from the bottom and this horse he ran last he must have got beat 30 length it was embarrassing so then I ran him back the second time he ran last again so I said I went to this guy that he sells A Tip Sheet his name was Bob beer and I said I need help I need to claim a horse I don't know what I'm doing and and so he called me up and he said there's a horse called president Summit for 50,000 so I thought I'm going to give it one shot and I remember going up I filled out the claim and I told my assistant at the time I said if this horse doesn't work out forget the third I'm done with third bits I'm going to go back I because I was taken to beating and I'm I'm used to winning like a lot of big races in the courter horse and I'm I thought it was a hot shot in the courter horse and I'm just getting embarrassed and they're looking at me like he this you know like welcome to the big league so so the horse wins and I was so excited and I was the only claim in for him I was so excited I wanted to get in the winter circle with the other owners you know you're like you know you don't do that but and I remember so right away you're like I was like oh my God we got the horse and I followed the horse all the way through the panic to the receiving bar and um so and then he came back and he won a race and that I needed that too and then then I just worked my way up when you jump into thorough breads you're viewed as an outsider right I mean when you think of thoroughbreds I I think naturally of Kentucky you think about the the big racing that's going on in the east coast um you're you're looked at as this guy that came out of quarter horses came out of kind of nowhere and it wasn't that long until all of a sudden you're experiencing success but you're not really part of the club is that is that fair to say definitely yeah when you come from the C of horse especially when you were a cowboy hat it was sort of like um it's sort of like uh you know it's like C of horse business is like it's like it's qu of horse and rodeos you know it's like the same same same circles and so um so Mike Pegram he tells me you know what I don't ask for a lot but you got to lose the Hat I go but Mike I said I'm that's all I'm asking just one thing lose the hat so so I got rid of the hat so then I had to retrain my hair and get the and so U but you had to R your hair you know get hair just put the Hat on you'd have to worry about combing your hair so I um I uh so I went to the Keenan sale that's in September where you buy him as earings and there's the farm Clayborn Farm which is where Secretariat Secret I wanted to go I wanted to see Secretariat I want to see uh they had all the the best alens there so I want to see what they look like before I bought a horse you know Mr prospector all these great horses and so I saw a Secretariat and he was really he was really old it was his it was his last year that he was alive and there's this big massive neck and this deep heart growth but he was really he was light on his hind end he didn't have a big you know powerful hind end like wow he's different then I went to see Mr prospector who was really and he was sort of a different and then I saw this ninski II who you know was a great and they all look different I mean it was like and spectacular bid was there he's one of the greatest race horses I looked at him and he was like he was good-looking but fine bone it was like wow you know I was surprised to see that so after that I went back to the sale so I'm looking at all these horses and they're and they're I see a good-looking one and I'm I'm trying to buy a horse for like 20,000 so you go up there and I see a good-looking one they go 30 40 100 200 500 whoa I'm like go back and wait run up there 3 four 500 go back like this is ridiculous finally but the fifth day they sell like you know two 300 a day it's like just crazy I I see this gray beautiful big goodlook with a just he looked like a big quter horse and so I look at him and I said wow I love this horse so I tell this guy we're going to go we got to buy this horse I sit down there and he he gets up to about 20,000 and the guy he stops bidding I say and he's at 22 and I said hey hit him you know he goes no I'm I'm done I go man he's beautiful you should let's let's buy this horse and he goes you know what if you like him so much you have a lot of clients why don't you buy him when he said that he sort of like he got me like like I'll show him so I bid 25 and then he hits and I hit him at 30 and I'm thinking how am I going to pay for this horse and I'm thinking please somebody hit him you know like you want to be out bit I want to be out bit I'm at 30 30 30 so 30,000 then they bring you this thing you have to sign your life away you sign all this stuff and I'm like and I'm like I'll never forget my hand was shaking I was I was trembling and I'm I'm trembling I'm trying to put my name and address and so then I I called a client of mine hey I bought this horse but I made a mistake I talked to his wife never tell the wife that you bought a horse and so all right I'll give him the message and then he called me later you know I don't that's too much money and this and that so um so so you're stuck with it I'm stuck so I told the guy I said ship him to Los Al to the cter horse track so when I got him back I just um I got some C horse I brought some guys in and so we we split them up like four ways you know so now this this 30 sloos we're talking about 30 sloos come 30 SLO are only Challenger we a try the hold 30 SLS surges to Victory it's 30 SLS wins by an act M faroh was again second and ruano was third and the time was 108 that hor won the Breeders Cup million dollar race and so um and when he won the Breeders Cup I thought this is it it's it's not going to get any better than this I just W the Breeders Cup I was like jumping out of my skin I was like I couldn't get down there fast enough and that's one thing about horse racing is that the best part is walking down to the Winter Circle because you're just like you want to fly down there people stop you like I don't want to stop to tell I want to like hey you know like yeah I I just and and to me that that's the best part and so I mean did that validate in your mind that you've got an eye I mean obviously you didn't see much of this horse before you bought before you bought him but did did this tell you I'm I'm on the right track well you know what one thing I've learned in this business business is that when when somebody wins with any horse there's a lot of geniuses are born and so none of us are geniuses I mean if we knew exactly which ones to buy there would only be like five people buying horses you know as as a horse trainer it's experience you know to me they're basically most of the horses they have like there's about five six different personalities that they have and so once you figure them out you have to treat that horse with that there all have their own little quirks and so um at the end of the day it's them you know we're um without a good horse it's like a coach without a good without the good players you know you just can't get it done okay so there's the Breeders Cup in 92 and but and and there's just five years later you get into this stretch which is incredible now we're going to watch some video we're going to start in 1996 when you were aiming for for win number one in the Kentucky Derby and I want to take you back and as we go through this video I want to ask you first have you watched a lot of this video that we're going to show from 96 97 98 dude it's like yesterday I'm telling you I had this horse caver he just won I can't believe he won the San Derby I almost gave up on the horse I almost didn't run him in the Sanita Derby and he wins the Sanita Derby so I go to the Kentucky Derby I'm just hoping to run fourth and all of a sudden they turn for home you going to show that clip I'm I'm going to tell you you don't have to be a horse race fan just trust your eyes right right and you tell me who wins this race okay here's caver in 96 unbridled song to lose he's in front he's in front fight two here comes caver on the inside and down the stretch they come un Rd Z caver on the inside out in the middle of the track rinestone is closing scoutly it's caver on the inside it's grestone on the outside McCaron and Bailey here's the finish I two TI to call was it caver on the inside was it Bailey with grindstone on the outside nose is aart after a mile and a quarter in the Kentucky Derby okay there was uh pretty boy Bob right there saying we got it and there's Wayne Lucas going hey I think we got it uh that that is incredible because I don't care how many times you watch that without going to the picture the photo there's no way you don't win that race look at that every time I see this I say that the who's the photo guy first of all it's my first derby so my seats were like the shittiest seats that was way way before how the cameras find you I know how they found me so I'm way before the finish line and the finish line is way down at the end there so uh and I thought I'd W it so I thought and I'll never forget I felt this like I cheered so hard for that horse and when he when he made the lead it was like you know you're not I wasn't mentally prepared for it and so it was like are you kidding me I'm I'm going to win the Kentucky Derby and I was like and you start thinking of your past I'm thinking about what I went through I'm just thinking about my childhood and so um and all of a sudden but did he win it and everybody said yeah you got it B and then I'll never forget the the the owner the uh Mrs Walter the lady and they nice people they she turned around and she said I think we ran second I said I said no you know she's you know she's like you know 70 years old she too old you know no you know so um so I go so I'm looking around and you know what in a horse race we start looking around to people you don't even know you go hey what do you think hey strangers right hey hey Bob you know so I was getting a lot of I was getting a lot of thumbs up and then um but then I kept watching it and I was watching the monitor I didn't move from my box and so I look at the I look at the and I want to see Chris heing my jockey they're showing Jerry Bailey he's on the other horse and and Jerry Bailey's like he's he's got like a little grin on his face and Chris is like he looks serious like he's not sure and like I don't like this you know then then I start feeling like [ __ ] what if I got beat and all of a sudden he put the number up and it was like man it just sucked rip your heart out just suck the life out of me so I go down there and somebody ask me like so Bob how's it feel feel like God you you lost you know it's like how does it feel let me tell you what I told him I said I know what it feels like to win the Kentucky Derby because I thought I won it for about 10 minutes you know so you know for that hey I know the feeling so hey I don't care if I ever win it you know so that's what I took from it it's a great answer and and that's 96 okay now we've all talked about the the Triple Crown it hadn't happened since 1978 and affirmed now let let's go to 1997 you have a horse Silver Charm wins the Kentucky Derby wins the pness now you're at the Belmont let's roll the tape down the FR they three of them in a line silver CH with the rail touch B on the outside touch bold puts a head in front 50 Ys to go touch bold touch bold wins it by half the length denying silver will second hit Triple CR so that's how close you were to winning the Triple Crown in 1997 that really sucked you know that that that really that Silver Charm he ran this Silver Charm he ran his heart out and and we' only bought him for like 80,000 you know so it was and I bought him the week of caver getting beat and he was in the barn I just got him in there so it was it was weird it was strange like here I'm going for the Derby and I just bought Silver Charm that week so it was like you know weird okay well here here's weird and awful again so you got caver at 96 97 now we're up to 98 you've come that close to winning the triple crown and then real quiet wins the Kentucky Derby wins the pness and now watch the end of the Belmont for real quiet 98 real quiet takes command of war from the CR as he bounces Away by 3 and a half lengths real quiet is the one in the lead by three and 1 half lengths what what is are you able to process it plus there's a $5 million bonus to the winner that's very important so we've been running for $5 million bonus this whole time so here you are in this position and it doesn't take a genius or a horse racing fanatic to think there's no chance this horse gets caught I'm I'm looking at that and I'm saying son of a [ __ ] this horse is gonna do it you know I mean you think you have it yeah hit it Thomas Joe is closing Victory Gallop is now second down the stretch they come real quiet in front here comes Victory G with Gary Stevens it's real quiet garmo but on the outside Victory Gallop too tight to call on the inside was it real quiet did he win the Triple Crown on the outside Victory Gallop neither jockey indicating that they think they won it that's a photo finish wow I mean that that's wow look there it is that that's really like I said how can you go a mile and a half and then get beat on the last jump I mean he was in front before the wire and he was in front after the while just a the Bob of the head a bob of the head and then that's what got you two years prior it's my fault because I said after Kev got beat at least I got the worst beat of my life out of the way I should have never said that it came back to haunt me right here by that time you're so tired Joe that you've been going through Triple Crown you're worn out all the with the media and everybody wanting a a piece of you and everything you're just you want it to be over with and so but for it to end like that my pegrum and he's he's he comes up with some things because his dad was a really a great guy and we're on the plane I and I tell Mike I said you know what mik son of a [ __ ] look at that just got beat that was cruel and he goes well he says one thing he says at least I'm not going to die and I go what do you mean by that like he say my dad always said you get real lucky before you die and I go damn like I wow that's deep so like I go so so now I'm like every time somebody gets real lucky and then like you know it's like something that's always stuck in my mind you know and believe me it's when you you don't know how much I don't know if I would have appreciated if I would have won the first triple crown with Silver Charm second if you would have won it would have been like hey I was and and plus when I was winning I was starting to getting a little bit like you get really smart when you see your name in the paper like hey they're quoting everything you say then next thing you know I want to but that that's where you kind of get yourself into I got myself in trouble and and we have this quote up here my fault I was born with a personality which I love because it's almost like in this day and age I don't care which way you want to go you want to talk about social media you want to talk about just basic television coverage if if you show personality it's almost like an affront to people like oh my God he didn't say the most boring quote of all time that's been said a thousand times he actually said something that was witty or had a little Edge or was honest it's like in this day and age you can't really be yourself if you don't want to deal with the criticism yeah it was tough because I was and I you know I had a lot of I've came from the court of horses we say a lot of things but it's it's not televised you know so um I remember I won the champion of champions it was on ESPN but at 2 in the morning you know so and you know some people would I was trying to be like myself funny the prant is a good race and they give a good a great silver hats he a great silver hatsy trophy so um Everybody used to say well you get on television you're you're Brash and all that but my parents when they were older I would play to the camera I knew they were watching so when when I'd win a race I'd made sure that my kids were visible whatever and I'd say something funny or trying to be funny and sometimes you know it gets old people if you're winning a lot they don't want to hear that they just you know they're and so but my mother she loved it it says a lot about your eye that those two horses Silver Charm and real quiet you got for a combined $12,000 yeah you're able to find these horses that that other people aren't seeing other trainers aren't seeing other owners aren't seeing and and here you are that close to the Triple Crown two times I've never been afraid to ask a question and the first thing I did the the last Triple Crown winner was trained by L Barrera who was a firm and he was a he was a great trainer and um I and one of these these trainers when they get older and he was it was his last year that he I think he was alive whatever I just went up to him I just started talking to him and they love these Old-Timers love telling stories and I'm telling you what I drained so much information out of them I said tell me l so what I'm in the I'm getting in the what what is that you like when you go to the sales and he goes let me tell you something always buy the the crooked ones run the ones that are straight they do not run he says really I goes yes I wanted to buy Seattle slooh but they said he's too crooked and look at him and he was telling me all this I go wow that's good to know so I've made a living buying crooked horses and so but they were beautiful bodied horses but they were crooked so a lot of these guys when I got into business a lot of the they uh these agents and stuff they go and they go well doesn't he's this a little that so I was just I was just sticking to what I knew you know what I can't afford a real expensive horse because our budget wasn't you know like with Mike I'd go try to buy like 20 horses for like 500,000 and and usually if we spent 100,000 that one was the worst one 2, one point given you lose the Kentucky Derby but you win everything else after that 2002 War emblem War emblem has won the Derby wins the Kentucky Derby Here Comes War emblem he wins the pre wins the pness you're right there again the third try of the Triple Crown War emblem has given way no triple crown for the 24th year I mean you you have come so close for so long and this this brings up another point when people say you know let's say you lose those two years back to back the B Elmont and people say you lost it's like wait a minute what I just won two of the three Triple Crown races I mean did that ever bother you well I mean they just say he failed they use the word fail a lot and so and that one thing about it is that every year when a horse would go for the Triple Crown I had to watch those painful they always show those reruns and I have to go over and watch Silver Charm get beat real quiet War emblem and it was like um oh here we go again I got to listen you're dying a thousand deaths oh this was actually the 1,000th death here here on the stage tonight we Yes we made you suffer through it again but it's one of those things where I think that people say well you think you're missing it's a Triple Crown that's the only thing missing I said yeah but it's like you know like they you know you I've seen them ask these well you've never won that it's no big deal you know we'll let it pass but it it was like bugging me that you know I had so many chances and I was getting well you know I we blew them but uh I really think that things happen for a reason and uh I think the Lord Works in strange ways and I think he wanted me he wanted to torture me a little bit there's a gap of time there between 2010 and then up until this year where you're not winning Triple Crown Races you go through a really serious health scare with a heart attack in 2012 in Dubai well that was nothing oh that was nothing was three stance and I was good no just three look at that with my shake Mo that's the leader of Dubai I'll never forget so I go there and every time I go to Dubai it's the only place I do it they have these big dates you know and I ate a date so so and then I go to the barn I was tired we'd flown all night and I felt heartburn and I thought you know I have a little heartburn so my wife she said uh just just drink a a soda just drink it fast and that'll you know that's a Tennessee way you know to get rid of it so uh so and I I actually felt better and so but that night I was really tired and um and I remember my phone went off like at 3:00 in the morning because I I was running a horse in El Paso and she went a steak so all of a sudden I went like I felt like and all of a sudden my wife goes what's wrong oh it just I think indigestion I still that date it's like hurts you know she goes so then I get up to go to the bathroom and when I come back she's on my computer and she's like Web MD just and she goes are you have is your jaw hurt I go no I said do you have are you sweating well it's a little warm in here but really not and she goes does your left arm hurt and I go oh my it's killing me I didn't realize CU it was like a steady pain here but my left arm was killing me I didn't notice that so I goes you're having a heart attack I go [ __ ] damn so I told my wife call this this veterinarian that we know the American vet just tell them that give Shake Mohamad I call him shik Mo heads up that I'm I'm going to the hospital so I can get his you know get his people help here yeah help there so so you're having a heart attack and you Bob bafford the first person you call is a vet a vet so we get there by this time it's like 8:00 and so and it's really starting to really it's really hurting me and I thought man I don't I I don't know about this I I don't have a shot you know this is not good then I thought this is not good so I'm telling my wife look it you need when you get back I'm not going to make it you got to sell the horse you I tell her exactly what to do so you're you're literally thinking I'm done you're done I'm toast so she was waiting in the waiting room and somebody came out and says we need talked to you and she thought they were going to tell her that I was dead and so he says he has uh 100% blockage in the uh left artery and we're going to have to go in there but we need you to okay sign away know and right away she's in there Googling away and she goes you mean the Widowmaker he says yes that's so your wife is is web mding or Googling the blockage that the specific blockage you have and it comes up it's known as the Widowmaker the Widowmaker but all of a sudden here walks in this guy he's uh this doctor with a coat and tie I mean the most Dapper looking guy you've ever seen he says I need to get you in there immediately I'm a I'm a I'm a the heart surgeon so really I go so where did you go to school he says I went to school here and you went to school here in Dubai about her heart surgery and he goes no no no I went to the finest in England I learned under the the best doctor in England my that's where my education is England and I said I'll Le hey Jill hey I think I got a shot and on either side of that heart attack you lost your mom and then you lost your father thank my mother thank God you know she wasn't alive when I had my heart attack it would have just that would have just she was just she was a mother to the very end and um my father they didn't tell him about it until I was okay and I'll never forget when I called him from Dubai and I would told him about he says he always called me babo he says Hey babo when they told me I took an extra three bear aspirins that day you know so uh it's like it's one of those things that um he just you know the life has been really just I mean turns and then this this horse from American Pharaoh comes it uh really made me emotional and this horse showed me as a Teo uh he was he showed a he came off the farm they said man they were raving about this horse American feral and when I got him he was working well you know he's working pretty good I got him down to elar and I uh he was I worked them we have blinkers like the cover you know you seen them where they can't see behind him and he was he was he was a little bit of a he had a little bit of a head case he was just always all fidgety and he was just not and I remember uh my my one of my my rider Martin Garcia who rides a lot of my good horses he worked on one day and he was working with another horse he was trying to get out and he was and he came back he says this horse he's Mo stupido I forget when he said that I go now now will you translate that for us stupido right so and I go really say yeah he's just I don't know he's just everywhere he wants to run off he's you know like unmanageable like but I had to run him in this big race so I'm sitting in my box and my wife Jill she's sitting there with me she gets she loves these and she's just so emotional she is so connected with these horses she goes so how do we look here I mean what do you think he said the he everybody's been talking about this horse I said he is the best hero that I have and so she goes and she she hear she gets all nervous and stuff so he breaks he doesn't break well and he's a mess in the paddock he's all hot he's fidgety he's just acting like a stupido you know and so he goes to the gate all of a sudden he just empty and he he runs fifth my wife she says if this is our best two-year-old we're [ __ ] and so thank you honey and um and so she goes it's going to be a long summer so so we we take him we School him to the paddock and and we notice the the the Handler were taking him up there he's like every time he hears the noise there's tractor somebody track and he jumps sideways and we thought man the noise is killing him so we put some cotton balls in his ears you know the you lot of they'll do that um like Zenyatta they used to put you'll see the with the white cotton balls but it's sort of to me it's sort of like a copout you know like I'm use a copout it's more of like you know the so so we put the cotton and he seemed like and I took the blinkers off and we schooled them and he was perfect the the the cotton balls so so I I came back and I breeed him and he worked great so I told the owners you know what I'm going to run him back in the grade One race it's maturity but I never have done that before off a bad race like that so a maiden so I put Victor Espinosa on there because my jockey was riding another horse so and I told Victor you know he's a little bit he's got a head case just get him running away from there and see what he does you know so and this horse breaks and he just destroys the field but when I saw the way he won it it was like like so I couldn't wait to talk to Victor know I saw so I saw him about about 3 4 days later and I said you know Victor you you've won some some of those races for me I don't is it me or I've never had a horse do what he did he said wow he says man I've never you know he knew right there this this is a special horse and so then he came back but I remember when he was coming back on the TV you could see the white cotton in his ears and I had a friend called me their trainer he goes oh you're such a puss you put cotton in his ears you know like so after all those near misses near makes American pharaoh and Victor espa that won American Ferell wins the Kentucky Derby an American phoh and Victor esposa have won wins the pness now you're at the Belmont you're right there again that close to the Triple Crown what was that like and you know New York is tough every time I told my son bod now when we go there um you know there's going to be people like heckling me they're going to tell me that you know I remember Point given when I took him to the belma I I warned my son Canyon at the time he was 12 you know they're going to say some bad things about your dad but they're just having fun they're drinking having fun and I remember him saying oh Dad did you hear that one guy said B you're an overrated piece of [ __ ] like yeah you know and bod goes I can't wait to hear what they say you know like usually they say not today Bob or whatever and we walked up there and there was not one negative thing not one uh they were everybody sort of felt like this was the one American Pharaoh makes us run for Glory as they come into the final for long frosted is second with 1/8 of a mile to go American Pharaoh's got a two-length lead frosted is all out at the 16th pole and here it is the 37e waight is over American phoh is finally the one American pH has won the Triple ground wow it's just even for somebody that's not tied to it it's impossible to watch that video and not get chills and I don't know what it is about that sport I and is sport of kings and you know there there's something about that horse that I think it it feels like uh part of him belongs to all of us and that was that was the money shot right there that I mean does that say it all with bod yeah it was like he was he was so nervous for the Kentucky Derby and um he wanted to win it so bad and then winning that it was like um you know I was thinking my parents um they would have loved it they were love um my mother she was always she was like you know she'd always she was always telling me honey I'm lighting candles for you we're you know really you know tight Catholic Family and I mean she just lit candles I'm I'm surprised she didn't burn the house down you know but but um she always had candles going and you know anything for luck you know we were you know you just get very but for some reason I just felt that they were somehow like connected with this horse and and that's why um there's some there's something about this horse that he's just very um he's just so cool he walks up there and it it's like nothing bothers him you know the horse that turned out to be el stupido he got he's he's just a smartest horse and so to me I watch him run as a fan I mean I train him I get him ready I don't know he's just been he's like a like he's from another planet but uh you know you brought me back when I see that stretch run it's just um it was incredible that day anybody that was at Belmont it's I've never heard it was so loud Joe it was like and it kept going on all my kids were there and um you know all my clients and everybody they were all crying everybody in the stories like um I hear these stories like work they tell me where they were you know when he won they were on a baseball field they were watching they were they were in the shoe department uh buying shoes and they saw I mean all these people that come up all these stories and so so just to be part you know I never thought I never imagined I'd be in this situ situation like this and sitting across from Joe Buck in front of a great audience here but it's like you know these horses are just you know they they've taken me there and um so it's like um you know you're still going to run you know a couple more times if he's if he's you know if he still wants it and so but I don't know he has really spoiled me my ex I don't know what you know it's like well that's that's the question I mean what's next what's next for you what's for me I I don't know it's like it's going to be really really tough he's really uh what we've been through with him I always thought what what would it be like if he would have won the Triple Crown with those other horses you know like and I I didn't realize it was going to be this big and it was just U it's going to be really you know to get back I have these I have these young horses that we're deal working with and I'm just hoping I can see like a glimmer or something you know but um you know life will go on but it's going to be um you know it's something that you know he's just he's a once in- lifetime horse for me I mean I've never you know what he's done is just incredible since we've been emotional I can get you unemotional in a second and uh show you the picture of you with the Burger King behind you that's everybody that is the freakiest fraking thing you know what everybody has a price so so it was I'm telling you what I was when we talk the Mayweather fight I first I saw it in the Mayweather fight and I thought wow that's and and it sort I forgot about it and when it came up with the Burger King it was like we we had to set up and they were explaining to me well the king's going to be here you're going to meet the king the king and it was it's some kid in a costume I hope that's not that doesn't does the mouth move at all I'm telling you what I was so nervous that day and I'm I'm walking up there and I'm thinking about and they're playing New York New York and once they played New York you know it was I I just love hearing that song so it's really getting me into it and I'm starting to get nerves and I walk up and I see the king it was like the king and so every family photo we have of that the king is in every shot yeah that's right all right we're going to have some fun this is the way we end these we have five questions in here sealed with a staple so there's no possible way I could have ever opened this or looked at these questions prior to me doing it live in front of you people so here we go you ready I didn't write these okay okay I'm I'm divorcing myself from that part of it question number one would you rather wrestle a lion or wrestle a shark well I I think I take my chance with a shark usually a shark will take a if he doesn't if you don't taste well yeah you'll take off so I'm I don't think I'm going to taste very good okay I like your answer that if you had to listen to if you had to listen to one song 1,000 times in a row what would that song be um you know what um there's a song that I I just love is the um Comfortably Numb I could listen to that I love that song You're a guitar guy aren't you I I play not very well it's chords only bring in the guitar no we would never do that what book is on your nightstand well my wife's got some books on her nightstand but uh no that's that I don't no not the question a racing for on my nightstand okay would you rather meet an alien visitor or travel to outer space I would have like to meet an alien visitor you don't want to go out there that an illegal alien an alien right an alien let's not get political out here Bob an alien visitor that I mean they don't necessarily all look like ET by the way you know what I I've always had an imagination I always believed that there was UFOs and you know I grew up with all those horrible black and white right Day the Earth Stood Still yeah got it and finally would you rather have a time machine that only goes back in time or one that goes forward in time I would like to get one that goes back in time so I can not buy some of those horses that I bought that didn't pan out too well makes sense um ladies and gentlemen we have just spent over an hour with uh somebody who obviously has gone from no Galis to a jockey on Quarter Horses to training Quarter Horses to training thoroughbreds to winning Triple Crown Races to winning the triple crown with a horse that I think we all feel like we have a little part of American feral how about a round of applause for bob ba [Applause] than thank you [Applause] [Music] [Music] guys [Music] [Music]

Channel: Youth Inc.

Views: 77,722

Keywords: bob baffert, bob baffert snl, horse racing, horse racing tips, rival stars horse racing, horse racing live, horses, gambling, horse race gambling, kentucky derby, american pharoah, triple crown, secretariat, 2009 kentucky derby

Id: jNlD6-lUs0Y

Length: 54min 16sec (3256 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 28 2023