BALTIMORE — Bob Baffert oozed confidence in Pioneerof the Nile leading to the Kentucky Derby.
The colt was in front coming down the stretch, and for a few moments the Hall of Fame trainer thought he had his fourth Derby victory.
“It just took the air out of us,” Baffert recalled Thursday.
As was the case with most of the 150,000 people at Churchill Downs that day. Calvin Borel and 50-1 shot Mine That Bird blew by Pioneerof the Nile to win by 6 3/4 lengths in the second-biggest upset in Derby history.
Baffert and his colt are back for a rematch in Saturday’s Preakness. Not only will they have to contend with the Derby winner, but Borel has switched horses and will ride stellar filly Rachel Alexandra, the 8-5 morning-line favorite who brings a five-race winning streak into the 1 3-16-mile race at Pimlico. Rachel Alexandra will break from the No. 13 post on the far outside.
“He’ll have her right in contention immediately,” Baffert said. “She’ll probably be sitting second or third and just cruising.”
Pioneerof the Nile is the 5-1 second choice in the 13-horse field and drew the No. 9 post. Jockey Garrett Gomez and the colt figure to be stalking the pace from an outside position.
“The questions that weren’t answered in the Derby we’re going to find out in the Preakness,” Baffert said.
Rachel Alexandra isn’t the only unknown factor in the Preakness. The weather figures to play a part, too, with a 50 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms.
That could turn Pimlico’s dirt into mud, the same kind of slop that bogged down most of the 20 horses in the Derby.
“I still want to see what my horse does on dirt. He’s seen sticky mud,” Baffert said. “My horse has never run on a dry track. He’s trained well on a dry track.”
Pioneerof the Nile ran on dirt for the first time in the Derby after spending the winter on synthetic surfaces in Southern California, where he had a four-race winning streak.
“He really bounced out of it well,” Baffert said, referring to the colt’s post-Derby condition. “He’s going to run a big race.”
