The Kentucky Derby is just around the corner for the trainers. Bob Baffert is back on the scene at Churchill Downs after serving a three-year suspension, and he’s part of this list, too. Even though his prep races were pretty tough on the horses, with only two making the cut to join the Run for the Roses, the trainer still manages to keep a positive outlook. It seems like Baffert has lined up another challenge for his horse, Citizen Bull. So what took place? No. 1 post position.

Sure, if you’re a seasoned horse racing fan, you might feel like Citizen Bull’s chances are already done before the Grade 1 race even kicks off. May I clarify for you? Citizen Bull got the No. 1 post position, which is known to be a tough spot historically. Did you know the last horse to win the Derby from this spot was Ferdinand back in 1986?

Since 1986, horses starting from post position No. 1 have gone 0-for-37 in the Kentucky Derby, with most finishing outside the top five. Modern Kentucky Derbies, especially with fields of 18 to 20 horses, have made inside posts even tougher. Since the gate redesign in 2020, the No. 1 position has produced no serious contenders, magnifying its historical disadvantage. According to the Courier Journal, Bob Baffert talked about the upcoming challenge, saying, “Once you get the 1 hole, I don’t have to give instructions on what (jockey Martin Garcia) is going to have to do. He’s going to have to leave there running, but the horse wants to do that anyway. But I would have liked to have been a little outside.”

Martin Garcia is going to be riding Citizen Bull. With the jockey’s experience in the sport, Baffert is confident that he’ll get off to a good start in the race, helping them avoid getting stuck between the other competitors. Still, the trainer would have preferred to have Citizen Bull a little further outside, even though he’s known for his strong starts in the races.

Nevertheless, according to multiple handicappers cited by Daily Racing Form and BloodHorse (April 2025), Citizen Bull’s odds from post 1 are ‘among the longest for any Baffert Derby horse in history,’ reflecting the near-impossibility of overcoming the rail under today’s race conditions.

Basically, it all boils down to what the duo will do at Churchill Downs on May 3. So, what’s Baffert’s take on heading back to the racecourse that had him banned for a bit?

Bob Baffert is accepting the past and moving on

“In racing, you have to accept when you get beat. You accept when things don’t go right. It was one of those things, ‘Well, I can’t change it.’ When I don’t have any control of it, I don’t worry about it,” Bob Baffert said, talking about the three-year suspension that kept him from competing at Churchill Downs. He’s got a lot of experience in the sport, and this is just going to be another chapter in his life that he’ll want to wrap up and move on from.

So, what actually went down? The trainer was caught up in filing lawsuits to contest his suspension. So, during that time, one of the standout legal moves was made by Amr Zedan, who runs Zedan Racing Stables and has some pretty notable horses trained by Baffert. Zedan filed a lawsuit against Churchill Downs Inc., seeking a temporary injunction to contest the ban on Baffert at the track.

This ban was preventing horses he trained, such as Muth, the Arkansas Derby winner, from taking part in the 150th Kentucky Derby. But a judge in the Kentucky Circuit Court denied the order, and subsequent appeals were also unsuccessful.