BAFFERT WINS THE KENTUCKY DERBY, SECOND TIME AROUND

BAFFERT WINS THE KENTUCKY DERBY, SECOND TIME AROUND
Four days after the Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert watched a replay for the first time. This time, he wins it.

Baffert, thrust into thoroughbred racing's national limelight with Cavonnier's nose defeat in the Run for the Roses. has reconciled the narrow loss to Grindstone. Still, it lingers.

"How do you describe being snatched from the jaws of victory?" the 43-year-old trainer said upon his return to Hollywood Park. "It was a great feeling just to have a horse there, and then to come so close and lose it makes it pretty hard.

"I saw the replay for the first time Wednesday night. When they were coming down the stretch, I told my wife (Sherry), 'You know what, I think I'm gonna win this thing after all!'

"I looked at the ride of (Chris) McCarron, the trip, everything. It was one of those deals where there was nothing McCarron could have done different. It wasn't a race where you look back and say, 'What if this, what if that?' We just got beat."

Baffert didn't feel Cavonnier's being struck unintentionally by jockey Craig Perret's whip at the head of the stretch cost Cavonnier the victory.

"It didn't help, but he never broke stride or anything like that. But you don't know. I knew what it felt like to win the Kentucky Derby for about a minute (until Grindstone's number was put on the board)."

His reaction on learning the Derby winner had been sent to stud after a chip was discovered in his right knee:

"They should have retired him three weeks ago."

BELMONT NEXT FOR ALYROB?

While Cavonnier shoots for the Preakness, eighth-place Derby finisher Alyrob likely will surface in the Belmont Stakes.

"He came out with a few cuts on his legs, but nothing of any consequence," trainer Wally Dollase said. "We're thinking about either the Cinema Handicap (1 1/8 miles on the turf) or the Belmont next (both races are June 8). It depends on Alyrob. He'll probably be terrific on the grass, but there's only one Belmont, so if he's training great, we'll probably go for that."

Explaining his disappointing eighth-place finish: "He probably just got tired the last part of it. I was playing catch up, and not even knowing whether I'd go or not all the time. As a result, I should have had a mile work into him over the track, then another five-eighths, and then I'd probably been set.

"But it's a difficult kind of track, and it's more tiring, I'm sure, than Hollywood. So as a result, he probably wasn't tight enough to really do it. Obviously, the horse can run with the horse that was second (Alyrob was second to Cavonnier in the Santa Anita Derby, beaten 1 3/4 lengths). A mile-and-a-quarter shouldn't phase him if he's in condition."

BAH BYE -- Late-running Cal-bred filly took the worst of it breaking from No. 2 post in 6 1/2-furlong allowance test, but finished with good energy for Northern California-based trainer Greg Gilchrist. Better post should make the difference.

EVIL'S PIC -- Seemed hopelessly beaten in mid-stretch when trapped behind horses, but Eddie D. extricated the West Virginia-bred filly and she got up to win by a nose in a race that had to be seen to be believed. And this was in her turf debut at 5 1/2 furlongs and her first race in two months. Will improve on her impressive 8-for-15 record.

THE HOMESTRETCH: : Wayne Lukas won the Triple Crown as a trainer last year with different horses, but if Jerry Bailey does the same thing this year, will he be the first jockey to accomplish the feat? Bailey, who won the Kentucky Derby on the recently retired Grindstone, has picked up the mount on Prince of Thieves in the Preakness . . . Agent Vince DeGregory has taken the book of 23-year-old jockey Victor Espinoza, who had been riding at Golden Gate Fields. "He's a good rider and he has a lot of talent," said DeGregory, who has been idle since Goncalino Almeida suffered fractures to both legs in a spill last December. Almeida is expected to resume riding late next month and DeGregory will continue to handle business for the 40-year-old Brazilian. "He's swimming, riding a bike and he puts a device on his leg eight-to-10 times a day to stimulate healing ," DeGregory said. "Almeida's my first rider, always will be. He's my man." . . . Bobby Frankel could give Cigar another try with Tinners Way in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 30, but first is The Californian on June 2. Hollywood Park racing secretary Martin Panza still holds Cigar and Soul of the Matter firm for a rematch in the Gold Cup. The two finished a half-length apart in Dubai. Panza numbers Da Hoss, Dove Hunt and Dumanna as out-of-owners eyeing the $700,000 Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile on June 16 . . . One reason there are no vacancies in Hollywood Park's barn area is the racing strip at Santa Anita. Some trainers are dissatisfied with the condition of the Arcadia surface and prefer to condition their horses at Inglewood. Space is so scarce one trainer had to move a pony from a stall so another trainer could use it for his stakes-winning thoroughbred . . . Baffert has the June 19 Affirmed Handicap on tap for Semoran, with the $500,000 Swaps Stakes on July 21 as his major goal. Look for Baffert's rising handicap star Croillito to make his next start in the $400,000-guaranteed Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on May 27. . . Charlie Whittingham has no specific race in mind for Corker, who finished 11th as a member of the mutuel field in the Kentucky Derby. "We pushed him a little bit for the Derby," Whittingham admitted. "We'll wait and see what's next." . . . Laffit Pincay Jr. began the Hollywood meet with 8,416 career wins, second to Bill Shoemaker's all-time record of 8,833 . . . Former jockey Wayne Harris is back in action as an agent, booking mounts for Matt Garcia. Harris had been on sabbatical since Jorge Tejeira retired 18 months ago . . . Boxing legend and Mexican hero Julio Cesar Chavez makes his final Los Angeles appearance May 25 at Hollywood Park. The six-time world champion is training in Lake Tahoe for the 12-round Oscar De La Hoya fight at Caesars Palace on June 7. Chavez, 33, will spar several rounds from 11:15 a.m. to 12 noon. General admission is $6 . . . Worst place to watch the Kentucky Derby: the jocks' room. Between the shouting and rooting in Spanish and English, Dave Johnson and Mike Battaglia might as well have been working at Keeneland.