Baffert loaded for Breeders' Cup

Adorning the exterior walls of trainer Bob Baffert’s headquarters in Santa Anita are hand-painted wooden signs honoring the stable’s champions and major stakes winners.

Outside of one of his two barns, a large sign lists Baffert’s 15 champions, and another honors 2002 Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem. A group of signs around the corner of the same barn notes his five winners of the Preakness Stakes. About 40 feet away, spread across different walls outside of another barn near Baffert’s office, there are signs commemorating his 2001 Horse of the Year, Point Given; his first two Kentucky Derby winners, Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998); his two Dubai World Cup winners; and his seven Breeders’ Cup winners.

The section reserved for the Breeders’ Cup winners is one Baffert admits needs an update.

“It’s all about adding signs,” Baffert, 58, said on a recent weekend morning. “These signs are getting a little outdated.”

Baffert has won seven Breeders’ Cup races from 57 starters, among the many accomplishments that led to his Hall of Fame induction in 2009, but he has not won at the event since 2008.