Baffert's Bodemeister comes up just short in Derby
May 5, 2012LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Bob Baffert began tearing up in the moments after the Kentucky Derby in the paddock thinking about Bode.
Bodemeister, the bay colt named after his 7-year-old son, couldn't hold on in a furiously fast pace as I'll Have Another caught him in to win Saturday's Derby.
Baffert always shunned having horses named after family members and jokingly suggested the name on a whim. He never expected that Bodemeister would end up taking the Arkansas Derby by 9 1/2 lengths and become a favorite at Churchill Downs.
Winning the race was another matter.
With jockey Mike Smith aboard, Bodemeister rocketed right to the front through impossibly fast fractions. That pace proved his undoing.