With two Triple Crowns and 17 Triple Crown race wins under his belt, Bob Baffert is quite easily one of the most accomplished racehorse trainers of his generation. The Hall of Famer has over 3,400 wins to his name in a career that spans decades. For good reasons, fans would think that the 72-year-old might be getting forgetful with age, who doesn’t quite remember those early days on the track. But that isn’t the case at all.

Recently, Baffert has been having quite a good time all of a sudden. After the poor results at this year’s Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, the celebrity trainer finally seems to have found his footing with the Travers Stakes just around the corner. But even amidst all the reasons for him to be on Cloud 9, Baffert can’t forget the humble roots he comes from and why some tracks continue to be close despite having tasted victory at the world’s most iconic racecourses.

Baffert extended his winning streak just hours ago, as Himika dominated the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes to win the $150,000 race. Bob & Co. acquired the daughter of Curlin for $900,000 at the OBS Spring Sale, and today, the mare showed her pedigree by winning the race by 4 1/4 lengths. While a win is sweet in itself, a victory at this particular G3 competition means something extra special for Baffert, as shared in an X post by FanDual Racing on August 10.

“The Sorrento is the first graded race I ever won as a trainer. It was Indian Charlie’s mother, Soviet Sojourn. And I had to give up taking Ed Grimley to the All-American, or her, and I chose Sorrento, so it’s a good race for me,” a smiling Baffert told Scott Hazelton, recalling how the mare opened the floodgates of graded race wins for the trainer back in 1991. With that, he also nodded his hat at Himika’s owners, Baoma Corporation, for giving the right horse to win the race. “Want to give a shout out to the Chus, who’ve been great, you know, Charlie and Susan Chu. You know, they buy these good horses,” Baffert said further.

He also mentioned that Himika’s victory was made all the sweeter thanks to his successful races in the past couple of days, thanks to Baela, Privman, Desert Gate, and Bottle of Rouge. Just hours after Himika’s win, Bob bagged yet another successful race with Balboa, who won his Maiden Special Weight race at Del Mar.

But even more importantly, the Sorrento Stakes once again proved how well Baffert’s collaboration with jockey Juan Hernandez yields winning results. Hernandez has won six races for the trainer in the last three days, with the latest Sorrento win being the former’s third victory at the G3 race, while being the ninth for Baffert. “At the five-eighths (pole) she wanted to go, but I got her to wait. She took care of business in the stretch,” the seasoned jockey said about how Himika maintained her calm despite strong competition from My Kat in the early stages.

But are all these wins at Del Mar simply a coincidence? Or is Bob working toward something bigger?

Bob Baffert is slowly putting in the work for the tough road ahead

2025 hasn’t been all that bountiful for the legendary horse trainer, to be honest. From disappointing finishes at all the Triple Crown races to losing his long-time comrade D. Wayne Lukas, Baffert has lost more than he can keep track of this year. But with his latest streak of victories, it finally seems like he’s coming out of his slump. And he needs to!

Just a couple of weeks later, the Travers Stakes (Grade 1) will arrive at the Spa, and Baffert has already revealed that he will enter the race with Goal Oriented and Neada Beach. Goal Oriented finished the 2025 Preakness Stakes in 4th place and the Haskell Stakes in 3rd. At the Travers, slated for August 23, Baffert hopes to finally bag his first G1 win this year. Then, in November, the big challenge will once again await Baffert at Del Mar.

The “All-Star of horse racing” is what Bob Baffert calls the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and this year, it is already looking like a thriller. With both the winners of this year’s Derby, Sovereignty, and the Preakness Stakes, Journalism, expected to run at the late November race, Baffert will have his work cut out for him. Maybe that’s why he’s entering so many horses in every possible race at Del Mar: to get himself and Hernandez familiar with every nook and cranny of the iconic racecourse.

But will all of this amount to something for Baffert to be feeling good about after the Breeders’ Cup dust settles? Share your thoughts below!