Hall of Famer Bob Baffert added to his legendary record at the meet, securing his 12th victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante with Bottle of Rouge and his 19th win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity with the highly touted Brant. Winning the juvenile championships again really highlights his amazing ability to develop top-notch two-year-olds. Plus, he managed to saddle 24 winners during the Del Mar session, which was impressive return to form But this local dominance didn’t have much effect on the global rankings.

According to the TRC Global Trainers Rankings, the principled hierarchy of leading trainers based on statistical analysis of performances in top-tier races over a rolling three-year period, Baffert held firm at fourth place globally following his Del Mar successes.

Baffert had 2,396 points, sitting behind Ireland’s Aidan O’Brien with 3,615 points, the United Kingdom’s Charlie Appleby with 2,576 points, and American Chad Brown with 2,536 points.

Even though Baffert’s two-year-olds were outstanding, not having a top contender in the big three-year-old division this season—where you find stars like Sovereignty, Journalism, and Sierra Leone—probably held him back from moving up in a ranking system that really values success in high-stakes open-class competition.

The situation is quite a story for the legendary trainer. On one hand, his stats for 2025 are pretty impressive, showing a 31% win rate and earnings over $8.9 million for the year. It really shows that his operation is still performing at a top level in North America. So, the Del Mar results are pretty exciting, especially with this promising colt named Brant making waves. It really sets things up for a solid run toward the 2026 Kentucky Derby, and it looks like Baffert’s ranking might get a nice bump down the line.

Bob Baffert’s potential next big horse

Last year, Citizen Bull just missed out on winning the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity for Bob Baffert. So, the horse actually won three races in just two tries, and later on, it was named the 2024 2-year-old champion too. With the start of 2025, the horse racing community was all abuzz about this Baffert-trained colt and how he was ready to make a splash at the Kentucky Derby. But once Sovereignty and Journalism got involved, those predictions disappeared, making it a two-horse race. But you know, this time it could really work out for Baffert.

Brant, a $3 million Gun Runner colt from Zedan Racing Stables, really stood out with a strong win at the Del Mar Futurity on September 7. There was this kind of tense moment during the break when Brant bumped into a rival, but he totally managed to pull through with jockey Flavien Prat riding him. He surged forward and fended off a strong challenge from his stablemate Desert Gate, crossing the finish line a length in front with a time of 1:21.92. With that, Baffert scored his 19th win in the Futurity, marking five wins in a row for this race.

Given all his recent achievements, Brant is certainly a strong candidate for the Juvenile at Del Mar on October 31. Let’s just wait and see what else this racehorse brings to the table and if he turns out to be the next big star from Baffert’s lineup.