Baffert: Send your best and let the chips fall . . .

BALTIMORE – Pretend for a moment that Dortmund beats American Pharoah by a nose in the Preakness, and then American Pharoah goes on to dominate the Belmont Stakes.

Wouldn’t that be the equivalent of a Triple Crown suicide?

Both horses are trained by Bob Baffert, who clearly is jeopardizing his chances for what has become the most elusive feat in all of horse racing – a sweep of the Triple Crown, last accomplished in 1978 by Affirmed – by running Dortmund, who figures as quite possibly the top threat Saturday to his Kentucky Derby-winning stablemate, American Pharoah, in the 140th Preakness at Pimlico.

“Both owners have a right to win a race this big,” said Baffert. “Heck, if I had five good horses for the Preakness, I’d run all five.”

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Ahmed Zayat, whose Zayat Stables owns American Pharoah, is not upset with Baffert for running Dortmund, who is owned by Kaleem Shah. In fact, Zayat has this unambiguous take: Bring what ya got.

“I honestly think we should have to earn [the Triple Crown] on the track,” said Zayat. “By that, I mean to keep getting respect, we have to keep running against the best. This is a huge, huge deal, and I want to earn it. I want to show we have the best horse. I honestly don’t care who it is we’re running against.”

Dortmund was unbeaten in six starts coming into the Derby. The mammoth chestnut colt set the pace as the 4-1 second choice before settling for third, beaten three lengths by his stablemate, the 5-2 favorite.

Twenty years ago, D. Wayne Lukas was in a very similar position after sending out Thunder Gulch to win the 1995 Derby and Timber Country to finish third. Lukas ran both horses in the Preakness, with Timber Country turning the tables on Thunder Gulch, who ran third (and was beaten just a neck for second) in the Preakness. Thunder Gulch proceeded to win the Belmont after Timber Country was scratched the day before with an illness.

Withholding Timber Country from the Preakness just to preserve the Triple Crown chances of Thunder Gulch was never a consideration, said Lukas.

“There was absolutely no discussion about it,” he recalled. “I felt like the way Thunder Gulch ran in the Derby, he was the better horse, and if I was right, the situation would take care of itself in Baltimore.”

Thunder Gulch was owned by Michael Tabor. Timber Country was owned by Overbrook Farm, Gainesway Stable, and Bob and Beverly Lewis.

Lukas, like Baffert, long has had to juggle a deep client roster while occasionally pitting owners against one another. He said the competing interests are not as difficult to handle as they might seem, particularly when it comes to Triple Crown events.

“These are top-class sportsmen you’re talking about, world-class people, and there is a whole lot of money and prestige at stake for everyone in these races,” said Lukas. “Michael Tabor never said – nor would he ever say – not to run somebody else’s horse against him in these kinds of races. It’s just the way these people are.”

In the 1999 Preakness, Lukas ran Cat Thief (Overbrook) against his Derby winner Charismatic (the Lewises), with Charismatic winning again.

Baffert said he does not permit himself to think about the Triple Crown until after the Preakness. In all three prior instances when he has won the Derby (Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem), that horse also has won the Preakness before being defeated in the Belmont, which this year is scheduled for June 6.

“Winning the Derby again, it’s all fun right now,” he said. “When we’ve won the Preakness before, it’s been great, but then there’s that Triple Crown thing and all the weight it carries. Then you just worry for three weeks. So, we’re just going to try to enjoy all of this as it comes.”

Zayat said he welcomes the challenge of what awaits Saturday.

“Dortmund had it all his own way in the Derby, but I honestly don’t want to talk bad about somebody else’s horse,” he said.

“It’s not a personal thing. I want to be humble about this. I want our horse to go out and show he’s the best again. The good ones find a way to win. I don’t think that Baffert thinks Dortmund will beat American Pharoah, knowing what he has told me, but I have never asked him about Dortmund. I’m a very proper person. I know that when you run a big barn like Bob does, you need to do what’s right for every owner of yours. I realize that, and I’m fine with that.”