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'He's improved by leaps and bounds' Baffert pleased with progress of underdog Captain Steve
Posted: Wednesday May 03, 2000 08:25 PM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The gatherings outside Bob Baffert's barn at Churchill Downs aren't the mob scenes of past Kentucky Derbys. The trainer understands why. "There's some nice horses in here ... horses who have done more than he has," said Baffert, who will try for his third Derby win with Captain Steve, who has three thirds in three starts this year. "I think he's getting the treatment he should be getting." The big horses are Fusaichi Pegasus, purchased for $4 million as a yearling and favored for Saturday's race off impressive wins in the San Felipe and Wood Memorial; The Deputy, the Santa Anita Derby winner who could make Jenine Sahadi the first female trainer to win a Kentucky Derby; and Hal's Hope, the Florida Derby winner bred, trained and owned by 88-year-old Harold Rose and ridden by 43-year-old Roger Velez. Baffert has been a favorite since he came to his first Derby in 1996 with Santa Anita Derby winner Cavonnier, who was beaten a nose by Grindstone. The 47-year-old trainer talks readily and sometimes pays for it, as when he upset Sahadi by asking jockey Chris McCarron if he or she trained The Deputy. In 1997, Baffert won the Derby with Silver Charm, owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis. He won the race again in 1998 with Real Quiet, owned by Mike Pegram, owner of Captain Steve. Last year, he tried for an unprecedented third straight win with General Challenge and Prime Time, first and second, respectively, in the Santa Anita Derby. Prime Timber finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby, while General Challenge was 11th. Captain Steve is named for Steve Thompson, a Louisville police captain who did Pegram a favor. The horse finished third in the Santa Anita Derby after thirds in the Santa Catalina and the Louisiana Derby in his other two starts as a 3-year-old. Last year, the colt posted four wins and two thirds in eight starts. One of the wins was in the Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs, and he's trained well at Downs since shipping in from California. "He loves it here," Baffert said Wednesday. "After the Santa Anita Derby I said, 'Well, he's earned his way, but he's going to have a heck of lot to prove.' Now, it's come to this, he has very good chance. I wouldn't be shocked [if he won]. He's improved by leaps and bounds." Baffert, however, knows Captain Steve needs good racing luck. "Fusaichi Pegasus is so talented he can make mistakes and get there, but Captain Steve cannot make a mistake," Baffert said. As for the favor Thompson did for Pegram: It seems someone gave Pegram a gift and he put the package in his travel bag along with cash he had won betting on Silver Charm in 1997. Airport security found the package contained a hand gun. The gun plus the cash added up to a suspicion of drug dealing, and Pegram was arrested. After some phone calls, Captain Steve sorted things out.
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