Another Triple Crown race, another heartbreak for the storied trainer. “You know, he wasn’t happy being behind horses,” Bob Baffert knew Rodriguez’s eagerness to be in front from the get-go would be a problem even before the colt took to the gates for the 157th Belmont Stakes. However, knowing his track record as a Hall of Famer, many still had high hopes of seeing Baffert whip up a miracle.

Rodriguez finished the 1 1/4 mile race in Saratoga in fourth place. Not the result Bob Baffert was expecting, but hey, the competition wasn’t exactly easy. “He’s running against the best,” the 72-year-old trainer had already confessed to DRF last Wednesday. But Terry Bradshaw wasn’t going to be the one to doubt the three-time Belmont Stakes winner.

The celebrity sports commentator traded his NFL headset for the gritty setup of the Belmont on Saturday. Bear Bets Podcast took to X on June 7 to further share how Bradshaw sat down with Bob Baffert before the race to talk about the trainer’s past experiences at the Belmont Stakes and how he expected things to unfold over the weekend.

Walking around the Saratoga stables together, the former football QB asked Bob Baffert how the latter felt about the upcoming race. “I think we’re looking good. But the competition’s tough,” the horse racing celebrity admitted with a chuckle, but Bradshaw wasn’t having any of it. “Since when do you dodge competition?” Terry didn’t beat around the bush about what he thought Bob could pull off when under pressure.

But Baffert wasn’t exactly convinced. Highlighting how the Belmont would have the 151st Kentucky Derby winner, the 150th Preakness Stakes winner, all in the starting line, Bob went on to underscore how things wouldn’t be easy for Rodriguez. The trainer knew his horse had a problem. Just hours ago, the 17x Triple Crown race winner (a record by its own right) admitted that Rodriguez’s tendency to lead the pack from the very beginning of the race could cause troubles at the Belmont.

“Unfortunately, he’s sort of a one-dimensional kind of horse. When you have the horse like that, you’re at the mercy of the pace,” Bob Baffert told Bloodhorse. Trainer knows best? Probably. At least that’s how it turned out to be, as Bradshaw’s faith in the two-time Triple Crown winner got smacked right in the face.

Bob Baffert’s Belmont hopes crushed

While the retired American football superstar had his own ideas about seeing Baffert triumph at the Belmont, things didn’t go their way. In a repeat of the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza crossed the finishing line in first, second, and third positions, respectively. Sovereignty skipped the Preakness Stakes after trainer Bill Mott decided not to race at Pimlico because of the two-week turnaround. On the other hand, in the colt’s absence, Journalism landed a thumping win at the Preakness.

With all the recent commotion about the Triple Crown schedule being too hard on the horses, Bill Mott might have something to smile about. “If we wouldn’t have won today, we would have taken a lot of criticism. It turned out good,” Mott said after the race. As was seen just hours ago, Journalism, the favorite to win both the Derby and Saturday’s Belmont, was behind by three lengths when the Godolphin-owned Sovereignty crossed the finishing line with Alvarado Junior on his back.

However, while the rematch between this year’s Derby and Preakness winners was scintillating, Bob Baffert’s streak of misery continues. After scratching Rodriguez from both of the first two legs of the Triple Crown, many hoped to see Baffert in all his glory today. But that wasn’t to be. Respite inbound? Or more tough luck awaits the iconic horse trainer? What do you reckon?