Baffert dedicates Kentucky Derby win to Quarter Horse legend Bob Adair

Minutes after winning the Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert was being interviewed on NBC when he dedicated American Pharoah’s victory “to a friend of mine, Bob Adair, who isn’t doing too good right now.”

The comment undoubtedly went over the heads of the vast majority of Derby viewers because Robert Adair, while a Quarter Horse legend, is not well known in Thoroughbred circles.

Adair, now in his early 70s, was one of the best riders in Quarter Horse history. His more than 1,700 wins at Los Alamitos in Southern California, where he was the leading rider six times, included 117 stakes.

“I was hanging out with him at Santa Anita a few months ago, and he wasn’t feeling well,” Baffert said. “So, he went to the doctor, and they found out that he had bladder cancer, and he isn’t doing very well. I’ve talked to him since the Derby.”

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Adair, a native of Hagerman, N.M., fit the mold of a Quarter Horse rider: a tough cowboy with a quick wit who seemed to always be at his best in the big-money races.

“To me, he was always bigger than life,” Baffert said.

Adair played a key role in Baffert’s career.

“When I first met him, I was trying to be a jockey, riding the Arizona fairs, and he asked me if I was going to come to Los Al for the summer,” Baffert said. “I told him I didn’t think I was good enough. He told me that I’d better quit then because I was going to get killed at one of those fairs. I quit the next day.”

Baffert began training Quarter Horses, made the transition to Thoroughbreds, and has since won three Eclipse Awards, four Kentucky Derbies, and been voted into the Hall of Fame.

“Adair told me if you don’t think you could be the best at something, find something else to do,” Baffert said. “He’s my idol. I’ve always wanted to be like Bobby Adair.”