LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The plaques listing the names of his six Kentucky Derby winners, three Kentucky Oaks winners, and a few other Grade 1 victors are back on the wall outside of Bob Baffert’s barn 33 at Churchill Downs. Perhaps more importantly, Baffert himself is back, holding court in front of those plaques, which includes the names of American Pharoah and Justify, his two Triple Crown winners. “My life is on that wall,” Baffert said. “My greatest achievements are on that wall. It’s good to see them.” For Baffert, it’s good to be seen again at Churchill Downs. With the exception of one day last November, when he debuted the 2-year-old colt Barnes, Baffert has been away from Churchill Downs – and more specifically the Kentucky Derby – for almost four years. On May 1, 2021, the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit crossed the wire first in the Kentucky Derby, giving the white-haired trainer, at the time, a record seventh victory in the world’s most famous horse race. But a post-race test revealed the presence of the regulated corticosteroid betamethasone, which is not permitted to be in a horse’s system on race day. After a lengthy legal battle, Medina Spirit was disqualified from first, Baffert was handed a 90-day suspension from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission that he ultimately served in the spring of 2022, and Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert from participating at its tracks for two years. CDI added a third year, 2023, when its management wasn’t satisfied that Baffert had taken responsibility for the violation. Baffert and Amr Zedan, owner of Medina Spirit, fought the penalties in court, arguing that the betamethasone was in the system as a result of an ointment used to treat a rash on the horse, and not an injection. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission argued the route of administration had no bearing on whether the positive should be treated as a rule violation. Ironically, Baffert believes if the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority [HISA], racing’s regulatory body, had been in place in 2021, the positive wouldn’t have occurred. HISA came on board in 2022 and its anti-doping rules and enforcement program began in 2023. “If HISA would have been in place I never would have gotten it because we would have gone through everything and we just missed it,” Baffert said this week. “Took my eyes off the ball; we just missed it. It was so ridiculous, it was just a ridiculous, unnecessary positive.” In July 2024, after Baffert issued a public statement taking responsibility for the violation, CDI lifted the suspension. On Nov. 27, Baffert was at Churchill to saddle the 2-year-old Barnes to a maiden victory. But that was a one-day visit on a quiet Wednesday in the fall. It is springtime in Louisville that matters to Baffert and he arrived back here on April 23. “I’m so happy to be back and to be here. I had a warm welcome from everybody, especially the town, everywhere I go,” he said. “It’s cool to own a racehorse here in Kentucky.” The major focus of Baffert, 72, and his well-heeled owners is the Kentucky Derby. His owners spend good money at auction to buy the types of horses that can compete in the Derby. During the first two years of Baffert’s suspension, horses previously trained by him had to be moved to another trainer by a CDI-imposed deadline in order to be allowed to compete in the Derby. In 2022 and 2023, a total of three horses were moved to trainer Tim Yakteen. Taiba ran seventh and Messier 12th in the 2022 Kentucky Derby. Reincarnate finished 13th in 2023. Last year, none of Baffert’s owners moved their 3-year-olds by the designated deadline, thus they were ineligible to compete in the Derby. “I probably didn’t have a Derby winner,” said Baffert, who said he would have liked to have participated in some undercard races those years. Baffert has two horses for Saturday’s 151st Derby – Citizen Bull and Rodriguez – as well as eight other horses entered in five undercard races Saturday. He also had Tenma for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. Citizen Bull was the 2-year-old champion of 2024. After winning his 3-year-old debut in the Robert Lewis Stakes, Citizen Bull finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby on April 5. Baffert believes he ran a short horse in that race and has tightened Citizen Bull, giving him four works in 16 days, including a five-furlong move in 58.47 seconds on Monday. Rodriguez comes to the Derby off a front-running score in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5, a breakout performance for a horse who won his maiden by seven lengths in his second start. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. “I’d like to win it. My focus is just trying to win it,” Baffert said. “I’m not here just to be here. We brought two nice horses here and it’s a tough race. Hopefully, we can get lucky and win some undercard races. It’s great, it’s exciting. This is what a trainer really lives for, to be [participating] on the big day where everybody’s watching. . . . Last time we were here, we won three stakes, broke the Grade 1 record.” Gamine’s victory in the Derby City Distaff on the 2021 Derby card was Baffert’s record 220th Grade 1. Cavalieri’s victory in the Beholder Mile on March 8 at Santa Anita was his 250th – and most recent. Baffert’s return to Churchill and the Derby has largely been met in a positive manner. “I’m excited to have Bob back,” said fellow Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, who will send out Sandman in the Kentucky Derby. “We all want to win, but we want to beat the best, you don’t really want to win with a little asterisk. I’m happy Bob’s back and I hope to beat him, but there’s no question that Bob Baffert is very popular and draws a lot of people’s attention. He deserves to be back.” D. Wayne Lukas, who had the most Triple Crown race wins until Baffert came along, called Baffert “the face of the Derby. As long as we’re running here every year, I think Bob will be a part of it.” The next Derby Baffert wins will give him that record seventh in this race. He already holds the Preakess record with eight wins and he’s won the Belmont Stakes three times. Baffert has won 19 Breeders’ Cup races – tied for third, one behind Lukas and Aidan O’Brien – and has trained four horses that won Horse of the Year. Baffert can take some pride in the fact that of the 21 horses entered in this year’s Kentucky Derby, five are by stallions Baffert trained, including three Derby winners. So what more is there left to accomplish? “The desire to win, to compete, and to develop these young horses, I love to develop these young horses,” Baffert said. “It’s like being a college coach, you got these young players. The thing is about racing, just because you had all this success you think you’ve accumulated enough equity in your business that you can just coast. It’s not [that way]. Every year you have to start from scratch, we have to find new horses to buy. “I still enjoy the challenge, it keeps me going. I feel like the glass is half full still,” Baffert added. “As long as I enjoy it and keep enjoying it I’ll keep doing it.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.