Bob Baffert and the Top 5 Kentucky Derby Trainers

Bob Baffert – Do you know who’s on the other side of the horse?

Today, we’re counting down the top 5 trainers behind some of the Kentucky Derby’s biggest winners, not the jockeys.

The Kentucky Derby is known as the “fastest two minutes in sport,” but many racing fans are unaware that there is another character that has a significant impact on the race: the trainer. So, who are the most successful Kentucky Derby trainers?

Trainers are what NFL and NBA coaches are to football and basketball, respectively. They are highly knowledgeable individuals who train thoroughbred horses to perfection and determine which horses should compete in sprints such as the Kentucky Derby and which should compete in steeplechases or races over longer distances.

A trainer’s role is to know their horse from top to bottom. They’ll know how quickly the horse can go, how well it’s in shape, and even how well it gets along with the jockey. That is why winning a horse race is regarded as a collaborative effort between the beast, the rider, and the trainer.

There are two trainers at the top of the all-time tally of Kentucky Derby winners as of 2020. They are Ben A. Jones, a veteran trainer who has been working for over 70 years, and Bob Baffert, a veteran trainer who is still active today.

The five most successful Kentucky Derby trainers are profiled here, along with the secrets to their success…

Bob Baffert: 6 Winners

(Silver Charm, 1997; Real Quiet, 1998; Warm Emblem, 2002; American Pharoah, 2015; Justify, 2018; Authentic, 2020)

Bob Baffert must have thought he was at the pinnacle of his abilities when he won his third Kentucky Derby with War Emblem in 2002. And it appeared as if he was. Baffert has won the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, two other American Classics, by training horses for separate owners.

After that, he went through a dry spell, failing to find another Kentucky Derby winner until American Pharoah in 2015. What happened during that time of famine? There was nothing unusual about it; it was just that Baffert couldn’t seem to find a winner. The trainer was dissatisfied but not devastated by second-place finishes in 2009 and 2012.

Ben A. Jones: 6 Winners

(Larwin, 1938; Whirlaway, 1941; Pensive, 1944; Citation, 1948; Ponder, 1949; Hill Gail, 1952)

Ben A. Jones, who was born in Missouri in 1882, was a member of the old school of thoroughbred racehorse trainers. He began his career in the horse industry by teaching horses to ride in the West and Mexico, eventually landing a job at a stable in Kansas. When Larwin won the 1938 Kentucky Derby at Woolford Farm, he gained true respect as an excellent horse trainer.

Jones then relocated to Kentucky, where he was responsible for the training of five more victories for Calumet Farm. Whirlaway, who won the Triple Crown in 1941, and Citation, who won it seven years later, helped Jones establish his reputation in racing history with his Triple Crown victories.

Jones’ last Kentucky Derby victory came in 1952 with Hill Gail. The horse came close to breaking the two-minute barrier during the race but was hurt so badly that he never achieved similar heights again in his career. Jones died in 1961, three years after being inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame.

D. Wayne Lukas: 4 Winners

(Winning Colors, 1988; Thunder Gulch, 1995; Grindstone, 1996; Charismatic, 1999)

Few would have predicted that D. Wayne Lukas, a Wisconsin native, would still be busy after winning his first Kentucky Derby with Winning Colors in 1988. Lukas, however, is still influential in horse racing in his eighties. Between 1988 and 1999, Lukas trained four Kentucky Derby champions, and his Preakness Stakes victory with Oxbow in 2013 proved that he still knows what he’s doing.

Lukas has the most Kentucky Derby starts (48) of any trainer in history and is widely considered as one of the top flat racing trainers in the world. He’s won over 4,800 flat races in his career, and there’s a good chance he’ll keep winning and cementing his image as one of Kentucky’s most successful trainers.

Herbert J. Thompson: 4 Winners

(Behave Yourself, 1921; Bubbling Over, 1926; Burgoo King, 1932; Brokers Tip, 1933)

Herbert J. Thompson was born in Detroit in 1881 and won his first important race when Busy Signal won the Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs when he was 38 years old.

Thompson returned to the racetrack two years later to see Behave Yourself win the Kentucky Derby by a head over Black Servant. Thompson had won the Ben Ali Handicap, Blue Grass Stakes, and Falls City Handicap that day, and it marked the start of a fantastic year for him.

Thompson would have to wait five years for his second taste of Kentucky Derby glory, with Brokers Tip claiming a +1600 outsider victory in the historic race in 1933. Thompson died four years later and was inducted into the US Racing Hall of Fame retroactively in 1969.

im Fitzsimmons: 3 Winners

(Gallant Fox, 1930; Omaha, 1935; Johnstown, 1939)

Jim Fitzsimmons was born in New York and won over 2,200 races during his racing career, including two Triple Crown victories. Gallant Fox, his first Kentucky Derby winner in 1930, also won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. He did it again five years later with Omaha, another horse from the Belair Stud.

A third Kentucky Derby triumph in 1939 with Johnstown (another Belair Stud horse) would be the race’s final victory. Fitzsimmons would win Classics in the 1950s during a later career renaissance, but the Kentucky Derby eluded him until he died in 1966 at the age of 91.

While Fitzsimmons was at his peak, another owner, Max Hirsch, was winning Kentucky Derby races. Hirsch also won at Churchill Downs three times, in 1936, 1946, and 1950. Assault (1946) was the only champion to go on to win the Triple Crown.

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