Baffert recalls Belmont experience with American Pharoah

"(Joel) Rosario saved ground and rode a really good race on the gray horse

(Frosted [Tapit], who would finish second). He tilted him out there and we

really didn't know how good he was, but turning for home, you could tell Victor

was really loaded for bear.

"Secretariat, when he turned for home, he was like that. Victor could have

easily left a little bit earlier to separate himself, but he took care of the

horse, just sat on him, and when he asked him to go, he just took off with him.

"Victor got to take it all in, although he said he didn't hear the crowd

noise. That shows what was going through his head. He was enjoying it, and

that's got to be the greatest feeling for a jockey, to know that you're actually

going to win the race in the first turn. You just hope nothing drastic happens

from there to the wire.

"Going into the Belmont, the horse gave us a vibe that he was going to do it.

People in the industry and in the stands at Belmont felt it was time, this is

the horse, and that's the vibe I felt going in there. I knew when I saddled him

he was doing better than for all the other races.

"I told that to Victor and when I did, his eyes just lit up. I said, 'You can

be aggressive. He's going to give it to you.' And Victor said the minute he

jumped on his back in the paddock, he just gushed. I think they know when they

get on them, and Victor looked at me like, 'Hey, he's ready.'

"You have to have great people around you and I'm really fortunate that I

don't have to worry about anything. I would get completely burned out if I had

to do this on my own. You can't do it without a great staff.

"But the horse just gave me that vibe. We were just worried about the

break...but once he hustled him to the lead, the horse got rolling and he

doesn't use much energy. He's so quick he can just get to a spot, and once he

did, that was it."

Baffert was non-committal on when American Pharoah would run next.

"Everybody's trying to pin me down," Baffert said. "He's going to go back to

the track (Friday). Jimmy (assistant Jim Barnes) said the horse is getting

pretty anxious to get back, so he'll train, he'll come here (to Santa Anita, on

June 18) and we'll look for something.

"Our options are the Jim Dandy (G2) and the Travers (G1) (at Saratoga), the

Haskell (G1) (at Monmouth), but first I've got to see how he is. Everybody's

dying to be the first one to get the news. As soon as he crossed the wire,

everybody was asking, 'Where is he running next?'

"But the whole key is how the horse is doing."

Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella summed up best the feelings of

Baffert's peers at Santa Anita when he shook his hand and told him Thursday

morning, "You made us all proud."

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