The prodigal son returns! After serving a ban for three years, the legendary horse trainer Bob Baffert is finally on the cusp of making his return to the “Winner’s Circle”. However, even before the race began, the 72-year-old was dealt a blow to the guts that would get anyone reeling. Baffert’s best bet to clinch his seventh career Derby win, Rordriguez, was scratched from Saturday’s race due to a foot injury. And now, as Bob realigns his strategies, another trainer seems to have suffered a setback.

Just a couple of days before the 151st Kentucky Derby, the 2025 Fasig-Tipton La Troienne (G1) gave fans a brief idea about the scintillating action that awaits them on the weekend. Among the runners was the 2024 Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna. Shockingly, though, the 4-year-old horse finished last, not showing even a glimpse of the flamboyant star who won at Churchill Downs a year ago. Instead, Thorpedo Anna got “knocked around a little around the first turn,” as per jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. Things that make you speechless, huh? But there might have been a reason for the horse’s poor finish in the race, and Bob Baffert’s misfortune could be why Thorpedo Anna’s camp is so antsy.

Thorpedo Anna’s trainer, Kenny McPeek, took to X on May 2 to share how the horse has been since the $1 million race. “Thorpedo Anna cooling out in the test barn…The bumper cars in the first turn concern me and hopefully she didn’t get injured long term,” McPeek wrote in his social media update, noting that Anna’s situation will be assessed tomorrow after she is cleaned up.

It’s probably nothing. However, McPeek’s concern might not be misplaced either. After all, Bob Baffert’s example was set just yesterday. Rodriguez was widely considered among the favorites to win the 2025 Kentucky Derby and reinstate Baffert on his high throne. But as the horse racing community witnessed again, an injury can derail all plans. While we’re not implying that Bob Baffert’s case is what’s making McPeek agsty, we wouldn’t be surprised if it did, either.

After the race, Hernandez recalled that Thorpedo Anna wasn’t in her best self today. “She was a little leg-weary coming down the stretch today, which is abnormal,” Hernandez Jr. said. Thankfully, though, she didn’t have to take the brunt of things. “The horse on the inside of me, the one horse, Dorth Vader, she took the worst of it just being down in there, getting bounced around. And we took a couple bumps, but then after that, she was on her feet,” the jockey said.

However, for Raging Sea, it was a day to remember. “She’s really turned into a solid, solid horse that everyone needs to respect,” trainer Chad Brown said after Alpha Delta Stables-owned horse won the prestigious race a day before the Kentucky Derby. However, for any fan of the reigning Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna, the results were shocking.

Anna opened her season by winning the Azeri Stakes (G2) and the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1). Naturally, her last-place finish wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. However, Hernandez Jr. thought it might have had something to do with the tight schedule as well. “…she was just a little tired, and maybe the last race over there at Oaklawn [GI Apple Blossom], coming back quick today, it took a little steam out of her,” explained the jockey. Maybe scratching Rodriguez doesn’t look too bad a decision now. “Going back with a live horse is more important to me,” Bob Baffert said about how his horse’s health is his primary focus right now.

But while the 2024 Kentucky Oaks winner sorts through its issues, Bob Baffert has to deal with a lot on his plate.

Overcoming the rough patch, Bob Baffert sets his sights ahead

In 2021, Baffert won his record seventh Kentucky Derby thanks to Medina Spirit. However, later it was revealed that the horse tested positive for betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug that is frequently used by trainers, but isn’t allowed in the horse’s blood on race day. Subsequently, the horse’s win was revoked, and Baffert was suspended by Churchill Downs for 2 years. However, the famed trainer contested the verdict vehemently, before his pleas were dismissed with the CDI extending the all the way through 2024. And Bob ended up missing out on the 150th edition of the Kentucky Derby in the process.

But even as he stood on the cusp of making his comeback to the “Winner’s Circle”, troubles didn’t leave Baffert’s back. In April, two of Bob’s horses, Willy and Non Compliant, were euthanized after they incurred injuries—incidents that came to PETA’s attention.

If that wasn’t enough, Bob Baffert also announced last month that Madaket Road, another horse trained by the 72-year-old and a fourth-place finisher at the Florida Derby (G1), was pulling out of the Derby to focus on the Pat Day Mile. And late in Thursday, Rordriguez, projected as Baffert’s best bet to win the race with odds of 12-1 (that were later shortened to 6-1), also had to bow out. “You have to be perfect if you’re going to win the Derby. You got to be 100% perfect,” Baffert later revealed why the tough call had to be made.

But can Bob Baffert overcome his potholes and reclaim his high seat by winning the Kentucky Derby again? In the absence of Rodriguez, can Citizen Bull (14-1) be the one to carry Baffert’s flag? What do you think?