Bob Baffert started his Derby week on a rollercoaster. While Fort Bragg winning $200,000 at the St. Matthews Overnight Stakes announced Baffert’s comeback after his three-year suspension, tragedy struck. The six-time Derby winners had to scratch Rodriguez, one of their two horses in the Kentucky Derby. While on race day, his remaining horse, Citizen Bull, couldn’t keep up with the favorites. Yet, where Baffert’s return didn’t go as planned, another trainer won big.
While the Kentucky Derby might be the main event, dozens of horses ran in the 14 undercard races. Among them was Baffert’s fellow Hall of Famer trainer Richard Mandella’s horse. However, Kopian, a 4-year-old filly, had a lot of weight on her shoulders when she entered the $1 million G1 Derby City Distaff. That’s because Mandela hadn’t raced at the iconic Churchill Downs since 2018, and that’s not all.
Richard Mandella hadn’t won a single race at Churchill Downs since 2004. Yet, Kopian changed all that, as her winning the Derby City Distaff embodied the meaning of the comeback in every sense of the word. Well, that’s because the Spendtrift Farm’s horse didn’t just win on the sloppy Churchill Downs track, but did so by beating the Bob Baffert-trained favorite.
Analyst Marcus Hersh put things into perspective. “Ship first time, slop, in behind taking mud, not a lot of pace to run into, and Kopion didn’t turn a hair. She’s phenomenal,” the analyst wrote on X. And he was right, as Kopian was well behind Baffert’s Hope Road before rallying down the middle of the track. By the time the racers crossed the one furlong mark at the iconic Kentucky Derby venue, Kopian was neck-and-neck with Hope Road.
Ship first time, slop, in behind taking mud, not a lot of pace to run into, and Kopion didn’t turn a hair. She’s phenomenal.
— Marcus Hersh (@DRFHersh) May 3, 2025
And despite Hope Road’s best effort, Mandela’s horse pulled away at the 16th pole all the way to the finish line, giving her trainer his first graded stakes victory at Churchill Downs for the first time since 1995. And this comeback story doesn’t end here. Kopian is the daughter of Spendthrift’s Omaha Beach.
Yes, that same Richard Mandella-trained stallion who came in as the favorite to win the 2019 Kentucky Derby only to get scratched. What do you call this other than poetic? No wonder Bob Baffert said, “I miss the undercard races,” after being away for three years, when Fort Bragg won. Unfortunately, Baffert’s bad luck didn’t end there.
Bob Baffert’s grand Kentucky Derby comeback didn’t materialize
The first signs of trouble for Bob Baffert reared their heads with Rodriguez. Everything seemed fine with Rodriguez till Thursday. Yet Starlight Racing head Tom Ryan spotted a light bruise in the inside quarter of the horse’s foot. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have made a very tough decision to scratch our Derby horse,” Ryan posted on social media.
Needless to say, it was a big blow for Bob Baffert. Thankfully, he still had Citizen Bull on the 20-horse field. Unfortunately, Citizen Bull pulled the dreaded No.1 position in the main event. “I wish I had a challenge flag. If I had it, I would have thrown it,” Baffert said ahead of the Kentucky Derby race day. Turns out he was right to worry.
Citizen Bull pulled away with a strong start and led the pack for a considerable length of the tack. Unfortunately, the Bull started losing steam near the end, as the favorites Journalism and Sovereignty overtook Baffert’s horse. And as Sovereignty would power through, even beating pre-race favorite Journalism to the finish line, Citizen Bull faded rapidly.
In fact, Baffert’s sole Kentucky Derby horse ultimately crossed the finish line in 17th. To say it’s an anti-climactic end to the six-time winner, chasing his record-breaking 7th Kentucky Derby title, would be an understatement. However, this is only the beginning. 2025 is Baffert’s first year back from suspension. And if Richard Mandella and Kopian have proved something, you can never rule some of Baffert’s caliber out.
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