After almost two years without a starter in a Triple Crown race, legendary trainer Bob Baffert is back. A horse trained by him, National Treasure, will be competing in the 2023 Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
Baffert just missed his second consecutive Kentucky Derby because of a two-year suspension issued by Churchill Downs after the Medina Spirit saga in 2021. In 2022, he was also banned from races in Maryland and New York -- the hosts for Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Here is an explainer on the situation.
The Arizona native is a four time recipient of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer. He has trained two Triple Crown winners so far: American Pharoah and Justify. While he couldn't train a horse for this year's Run for the Roses, Baffert is finally back to Triple Crown competitions and he has a decent chance at making this next race one for the history books.
Who wins the Preakness Stakes? Where does Mage finish, and which overlooked horse is a must-back? Visit SportsLine to see Demling's picks for the 2023 Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who nailed 10 Derby-Oaks doubles and nine of the last 18 Preakness winners.
Baffert -- who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in 2009 -- has 16 victories in Triple Crown races: six Kentucky Derbys, seven Preakness Stakes and three Belmont Stakes. If National Treasure wins this weekend, he will have the record of most Preakness Stakes wins. He currently shares that record with Robert Wyndham Walden, who won it seven times in the 1870s and 1880s.
•NATIONAL TREASURE• #Preakness148 pic.twitter.com/XyPrpmJldf
— Claudia Spadaro (@ClaudiaSpadaro) May 17, 2023
Here are Baffert's Preakness Stakes winners so far:
- 1997: Silver Charm
- 1998: Real Quiet
- 2001: Point Given
- 2002: War Emblem
- 2010: Lookin At Lucky
- 2015: American Pharoah (Triple Crown)
- 2018: Justify (Triple Crown)
National Treasure drew the No. 1 post position for the 2023 Preakness Stakes and toy can check out National Treasure and all seven other horses in the race, including Kentucky Derby winner Mage, here.
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Baffert said Preakness is his favorite race. But while he has a chance at making history this weekend, he said in his return is not something he is counting as a victory because the past two years have been difficult.
"Not at all," he said. "It's not like that at all. What I went through, it wasn't fun, but I just move forward. I don't look back."
