By T. D. Thornton
Bob Baffert told TDN via text last week it would be “exciting” to have a horse run at Churchill Downs for the first time in more than three years.
Four months ago, on July 19, the gaming corporation that owns the track rescinded a ruling-off it had imposed upon the Hall-of-Fame trainer in 2021 because of a string of drug positives in horses Baffert trained, including one in Churchill's most prominent race, that year's GI Kentucky Derby. The colt who tested positive for an overage of betamethasone was Medina Spirit, owned by Zedan Racing Stables.
Presumably waiting for the right horse and the right spot to return to Louisville, Baffert chose Barnes (Into Mischief), an unraced 2-year-old colt who sold for $3.2 million as a FTSAUG yearling in 2023, to represent Zedan in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight sprint Nov. 27.
The entry will add intrigue to an otherwise quiet Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Lost in the drama accompanying Baffert's return from corporate exile is the fact that he'll be looking to build upon an impressive 5-for-7 first-across-the-wire streak that dates back to when he won with the last two starters he saddled at Churchill 42 months ago.
On May 8, 2021, Baffert sent out two fillies, Himiko (American Pharoah) and Crystal Ball (Malibu Moon), to favored victories in a pair of allowance/optional claimers at Churchill.
Baffert's previous day of racing at Churchill was one week earlier, on the 2021 Derby Day itself. That afternoon Baffert trainees crossed the finish first in three of five races, with Gamine (Into Mischief) in the GI Derby City Distaff S. and Du Jour (Temple City) in the GII American Turf S. winning before the (much later) DQ'd Medina Spirit.
Meanwhile, at the Mountain…
Without any notice or fanfare, the 10-year-old mare Traumarama (Adios Charlie) became North America's winningest active female horse in terms of victories when she notched her 23rd lifetime trip to the winner's circle last Tuesday night at Mountaineer Park.
Her feat was all the more impressive considering that when you look at the list of winningest active Thoroughbreds on the continent with 20 victories or higher, geldings far outnumber intact horses and distaffers.
Traumarama wired a crew of $4,000 claimers Nov. 18, going off at relatively high odds of 6-1 in a five-horse field for owner Caleb Bayley and trainer Randy Bayley. In each of the past six seasons, she has reliably churned out three victories per year while competing primarily in lower-level route races in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. Tuesday's win edged up her lifetime earnings to $200,763 from 81 starts.
Among still-active distaffers, Traumarama had been tied at 22 wins with fellow mares Panamaniac (Wilko), an Ohio-based 10-year-old, and Infinite Patience (Sungold), a 7-year-old recent stakes winner at Hastings Racecourse.
There are a handful of geldings ranked above Traumarama who have won between 25 and 30 races (thanks to Equibase for running a special query to create that list). But most of them haven't raced for months, putting in question whether they're still considered “active” or not.
Based on horses who have won at least one race in 2024, the 10-year-old gelding Sevier (Union Rags) tops North America with 30 victories. But he hasn't raced since May 8 at Parx.
When you consider “active” to mean Thoroughbreds who have made at least one start in the past two months, the continent's leader is Collusionist (EZ Effort), an 8-year-old gelding who won his 25th lifetime race by 7 1/2 lengths in an Arapahoe Park allowance Nov. 15.
100 Wins…And Counting?
Another neat story that flew beneath the radar of the racing media this past week was that of Kim Sampson, a 65-year-old jockey based at Fairmount Park who is contemplating retirement.
KSDK-TV in St. Louis had the scoop with a well-done profile broadcast Nov. 18 (watch it here).
Sampson's career arc is remarkable considering she followed a childhood dream to become a professional jockey at her hometown track in western Illinois. As a teenager in the 1970s, she was initially booed by crowds that at the time weren't used to seeing a female rider in a traditionally male profession.
But Sampson worked hard to keep her dream alive, and enjoyed moderate success on her own terms at Fairmount while teaming with her late husband, the trainer Jerry Sampson. She then stepped away from the sport in 1983, first to take care of her family, then to pursue a career in another almost exclusively male-dominated job–as an ironworker.
More than 38 years later, in 2022, Sampson returned to riding at Fairmount. And on Oct. 22, 2024, she won her 100th lifetime race. Most of her victories predate Equibase's recordkeeping, which only shows her career totals from 2022 onward. But Sampson has the winner's circle photos and the newspaper clippings to prove she reached the century mark.
“I was an ironworker for Local 392 out of East St. Louis,” Sampson told KSDK-TV. “I was tying rebar the first five years, bent over on a bridge deck. But I was stout from galloping these horses. They said, 'The ironworking made you strong for the horses.' And I said, 'No, the horses made me strong for the ironworking.'”
Sampson continued: “When I quit riding at the end of October [1983], and I took it from my last win [it] was 38 years and 180 days. So nobody comes back at 62 years old and goes riding races. Any other ladies that rode races at 65, I don't know.”
After being recognized in the Fairmount winner's circle for her 100th lifetime win, Sampson said, “It still never even really hit me emotionally until I got back in the jocks' room. And then the tears hit.”
As KSDK-TV reported, Sampson is not certain if the 100th victory will be her last.
“I got somebody that keeps trying to talk me into it for next year,” Sampson said. “If it's meant to be I'll be back. And if it's not, I'll be gone fishing or something.”
Fast starts at Tampa
It was no surprise to see jockey Samy Camacho establish himself atop the Tampa Bay Downs standings by winning five races over the first two days of the meet last week. The 36-year-old veteran is seeking his fifth consecutive (and sixth overall) riding title at Tampa.
Camacho won four on Wednesday's opening-day card, and while three of those winners were on characteristically well-backed horses, one was a 29-1 pickup victory in a race in which Camacho's original mount had been scratched.
Velocissima (Violence) hadn't won in more than a year going into the $8,000 claiming sprint for NW3L distaffers.
“[Rafael Romero, the trainer] helped me get started in Venezuela, back in 2012,” Camacho told Tampa's media team, recalling his start in the sport. “He did a lot for me early in my career, so I was happy to do it.”
Behind Camacho in the early standings, three Tampa riders are tied with two wins apiece. One of them is newcomer Sara Hess, a 7-pound apprentice.
Hess, 26, scored with her first Tampa mount, a 4-1 shot, on Wednesday. On Saturday she piloted a 24-1 firster, He's Side Eyed (First Dude), to an upset win.
Hess rode her first lifetime winner May 20, 2023, at Belterra Park. Her lifetime stats are 22-28-31 from 306 starts.
“I've ridden at all the Kentucky tracks; Belterra, Indianapolis, Mountaineer, Mahoning Valley and [now Tampa],” Hess said, adding that her goal for the meet is to “learn as much as possible, get as much experience as I can and ride as much as possible.
“I'll ride anyplace somebody names me,” Hess said.
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