Lookin for just a little Luck at Preakness

Bob Baffert may be one of the sharpest trainers in the business, but as he prepared to saddle Lookin At Lucky in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, he conceded the horse has him baffled.

“I don’t know what to make of him,” he said Friday.

He might also have been speaking for multitudes of horseplayers who bet $16 million on Lucky in the Kentucky Derby, only to lose every cent. If he starts at 3-1 today, they are going to bet $15 million on him in the Preakness.

That’s a lot of loot for the most trouble-prone horse in town.

Lookin At Lucky started out the year with an Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding two-year-old and the promise of even greater glory. Instead, he has hit one brick wall after another.

He won the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, but only after clipping the heels of another horse. He lost the Santa Anita Derby after being mashed on the rail by a rival jockey. Then he got clobbered twice in the Kentucky Derby by a couple of ride-'em-cowboy jockeys.

He came out of the Derby so tired that Baffert at first refused to commit him to the Preakness. Only after days passed and Lucky got his vitality back did Baffert give the go-ahead.

“The Derby really knocked him out,” Baffert said. “But his energy level now is high. He’s eating well, he’s happy and he looks good.”

But the frustration lingers.

“The trouble is this horse has not had a chance to run,” Baffert said. “In the Derby, he got wiped out in the first furlong, but then he made a big run at the finish and got tired.

“He’s a real warrior. He’s still a two-year-old. He doesn’t turn three till the end of the month.”

In an attempt to shake things up, Baffert sacked top jockey Garrett Gomez off the horse and replaced him with up-and-coming Californian Martin Garcia.

“Johnny Velazquez and just about every jockey in California was begging to get on him, but Martin has been working him in the mornings,” Baffert said. “And every time I’ve sent him out of state for a stakes race, he has won for me.”

The trainer praised Garcia for his natural skills, his confidence and his ability to get a horse out of the gate. Then he added the clincher, “He’s not intimidated.”

That’s huge in Baffert’s mind for this Preakness.

“The whole key to the race is (jockey) Kent Desormeaux,” he said. “See what he does when he comes out of the gate with Paddy O’Prado.”

You can bet your life on it. Desormeaux is one of the original Rough Riders. He virtually knocked Lookin At Lucky out of the Derby when, soon after the start, he plowed Paddy into Stately Victory, who in turn zapped Lucky, putting him out of the race.

Today Desormeaux will ride Paddy out of Gate 10. Guess who is just inside of him? None other than Super Saver and Lookin At Lucky, the two favorites. If ol’ Kent comes flying out of the gate and crosses over sharply ... well, who knows what might happen, but Baffert is betting that little Marty Garcia will give as good as anything he might get.

“Everything that is bad and can happen will happen at the first turn,” Baffert said.

By tonight, Baffert, known as the Silver Charmer for his shock of white hair and his first Derby winner, Silver Charm, will know exactly what he’s got with Lookin At Lucky if the horse has a good trip around the track. He might be a gangbuster, or just another disappointment.