Bob Baffert started his Derby week on a rollercoaster. While Fort Bragg winning the $200,000 St. Matthews Overnight Stakes announced Baffert’s comeback after his three-year suspension, the six-time Derby winner had to scratch Rodriguez, arguably his best bet, from the Kentucky Derby. As expected, his remaining horse, Citizen Bull, couldn’t keep up with the favorites. Yet, where Baffert’s return didn’t go as planned, another trainer won big.

While the Kentucky Derby might be the main event, dozens of horses ran in the 14 undercard races. Among them was Baffert’s fellow Hall of Famer trainer Richard Mandella’s horse, Kopian. The 4-year-old filly, had a lot of weight on her shoulders when she entered the $1 million G1 Derby City Distaff. That’s because Mandela hadn’t raced at the iconic Churchill Downs since 2018, and that’s not all.

Richard Mandella hadn’t won a single race at the Louisville, Kentucky oval since 2004. But Kopian changed all that. What perhaps made the win even sweeter was the fact that the Spendthrift Farm filly beat a Bob Baffert-trained favorite on her way to the finish line.

Analyst Marcus Hersh put things into perspective. “Ship first time, slop, in behind taking mud, not a lot of pace to run into, and Kopion didn’t turn a hair. She’s phenomenal,” the analyst wrote on X. And he was right, Kopian had a slow start from post two and was as low as 6th while Hope Road was closely trailing front-runner Mystic Lake.

The Bob Baffert trainee did end up snatching the lead from Mystic Lake around the quarter pole. But then, as he reached the far turn, jockey Kazushi Kimura pulled Kopion wide, thus clearing his path down the stretch. Finally, Kopion went past Hope Road at the 16th pole and maintained the lead all the way to the finish line, thus giving Mandella his first graded stakes victory at Churchill Downs since 1995. “She’s starting to make it look like I know something,” Mandella joked after the race. And guess what? The comeback story doesn’t end here. Kopian is the daughter of Spendthrift’s Omaha Beach.

Yes, that same Richard Mandella-trained stallion who came in as the favorite to win the 2019 Kentucky Derby only to get scratched. What do you call this other than poetic? No wonder Bob Baffert said, “I miss the undercard races,” after being away for three years, when Fort Bragg won. Unfortunately, Baffert’s bad luck didn’t end there.

Bob Baffert’s grand Kentucky Derby comeback didn’t materialize

The first signs of trouble for Bob Baffert reared their heads with Rodriguez. Everything seemed fine with Rodriguez till Thursday. Yet Starlight Racing head Tom Ryan spotted a light bruise in the inside quarter of the horse’s foot. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have made a very tough decision to scratch our Derby horse,” Ryan posted on social media.

Needless to say, it was a big blow for Bob Baffert. However, he still had Citizen Bull in the 19-horse field. Unfortunately, Citizen Bull pulled the dreaded No.1 position in the main event. “I wish I had a challenge flag. If I had it, I would have thrown it,” Baffert said ahead of the Kentucky Derby race day. Turns out he was right to worry.

Citizen Bull pulled away with a strong start and led the pack for a considerable length of the track. Unfortunately, the Bull started losing steam near the end, as the favorites Journalism and Sovereignty overtook Baffert’s horse. And as Sovereignty would power through, even beating pre-race favorite Journalism to the finish line, Citizen Bull faded rapidly.

In fact, Baffert’s sole Kentucky Derby horse ultimately crossed the finish line in 15th. To say it’s an anti-climactic end to the six-time winner, chasing his record-breaking 7th Kentucky Derby title, would be an understatement. However, this is only the beginning. 2025 is Baffert’s first year back from suspension. And if Richard Mandella and Kopian have proved something, you can never rule some of Baffert’s caliber out.