By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The crown jewel of American horse racing will welcome back the sport’s most famous trainer at the Kentucky Derby this year, as Bob Baffert returns from a three-year ban, while heavy favourite Journalism hopes to make some headlines of his own.
Two Baffert-trained horses will be on the track for the first leg of the esteemed U.S. Triple Crown series on Saturday for the first time since 2021, with Citizen Bull and Rodriguez taking the first and fourth post positions respectively.
Churchill Downs banned Baffert for two years when his horse, Medina Spirit, failed a drugs test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The horse died of a heart attack months later and his title was subsequently stripped.
The track later extended Baffert’s suspension through the end of 2024 but reversed course in July, after the trainer took responsibility for the positive drugs test, and lifted his ban.
Baffert, a near-ubiquitous figure at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, came back to the track to run colt Barnes in a maiden special weight race in November.
But with 17 wins in the famed Triple Crown series, his return for the 1-1/4 miles dirt race was the major news ahead of Saturday’s run.
“Came here in November and it was nice, coming into the stable gate everybody was nice to me, welcoming me back, and so it’s like I never left. I feel great,” he told reporters. “When I get the emotions is the day of the derby.”
His return has riled animal rights groups, with nonprofit PETA demanding increased scrutiny of Baffert’s operation after a pair of horses he used to train died in separate incidents in April.
RED FLAG
PETA has long opposed thoroughbred horse racing.
“Bob Baffert’s two dead horses only a month before the Kentucky Derby should be a red flag for Churchill Downs,” PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said in a statement.
“In addition, the track must account for its own appalling record as dead horses are turning it into a graveyard.”
Churchill Downs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With Citizen Bull’s morning line odds at 20-1 as of Wednesday and Rodriguez’s at 12-1, Baffert will have his work cut out for him against Journalism, a beautiful bay colt with the biggest buzz among oddsmakers at 3-1.
He arrived in Louisville on the heels of three consecutive victories and enjoys an impressive pedigree from sire Curlin, the 2007 Breeders’ Cup and Preakness winner.
Adding to his advantage, Journalism drew an enviable eighth pole position for Saturday, though trainer Michael McCarthy said he would have been comfortable seeing his horse anywhere from five to 15.
“With a horse like him, he gives you a lot of confidence. Wouldn’t have mattered where he was drawn,” said McCarthy, who trained Rombauer to an upset win over Medina Spirit in the Preakness four years ago.
The post time for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for 6:57 p.m. ET (2257 GMT).
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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