Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

ARCADIA, Calif., — It’s time to get ready for the Bob Baffert Kentucky Derby Express after his trainee, Midshipman, won the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.

Midshipman mostly likely will be named the 2-year-old champion and will be the winter book favorite for the 2009 Derby. The Unbridled’s Song colt is owned by Darley Stable and was ridden to victory by Garrett Gomez.

Square Eddie was second, with Street Hero third and Terrain fourth. The final time for the race was 1:40.94 seconds. The margin of victory over Square Eddie was a quarter length.

Baffert won the Derby in recent years with Real Quiet, Silver Charm and War Emblem. And with Baffert at the controls, those trips along the Derby trail were amusing if nothing else.

Midshipman came into the Juvenile off a second-place finish in the Norfolk on Sept. 28 over the same course and at the same distance of a mile and a sixteenth. He had been unbeaten in two races before that.

Baffert was a little subdued for Baffert after the race. “You think you want to plan it that way and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. The plan worked to get him out there. I liked his draw. He’s broken well in all of his races. It put him in the race early. It got him cruising. There wasn’t a ridiculous pace or anything like that.       

“You don’t know, but you’re just hoping that when he kicks for home that he’s the real deal and he showed he was.”

Jockey Garrett Gomez knew he had his work cut out for himself with Midshipman. “He broke running. He’s a big, long-striding horse; he’s a young horse and a little timid. My main objective was to get along with him as good as possible and give him the smoothest trip I could. Actually, I had a little trouble on the first turn.

“I was trying to get him to settle down a little bit. He was a little keen, and every time I tried to touch his mouth, he threw his head in my lap a little bit. I had to finesse him a little bit around the first turn. When I got him slowed down, I just slowly gave it to him and let him do his own thing and find a good rhythm and get into a nice long stride.           

“Turning for home, I asked him to start accelerating, he answered all the right questions. He went about his business really well and hung on against a really nice racehorse.”

Rafael Bejarano, on Square Eddie, also was dealing with an eager horse.  “My horse tried to go to the lead and I tried to get him to relax. The other horse on the outside of me (Midshipman) was putting pressure on me, so I got him to relax a little and I was comfortable behind the speed. He never quit running. He tried very hard.”