in Triple Crown Betting Trends
2006 Kentucky Derby: Bob and John profile
by Robby Maddux
Graded Earnings: $690,370 Race Record: 4-1-3
Bob and John couldn't beat Brother Derek in California, so Baffert sent him East and the colt won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Bob and John will likely be somewhere just behind the leaders before making a run at the lead in the Derby.
Bob and John is by Seeking the Gold, who has sired five champions and six millionaires. His champions include Dubai Millenium, Seeking the Pearl, Heavenly Prize, Catch the Ring and Flanders. Bob and John's dam, Minister's Melody, also raced for Stonerside, winning $451,470 and five races in 22 lifetime starts. Her marquee victory was the Arlington Heights Oaks, but she was also graded stakes placed in five other events.
Bob and John is a complete outcross in his first four generations, with Raise a Native and Buckpasser on top and the Northern Dancer and Seattle Slew lines on the bottom - a great mix of speed and stamina that could be a force to be reckoned with on Derby Day.
Garrett Gomez will ride Bob and John. He began riding at Santa Fe Downs in 1988, riding the midwest fair circuit before moving to California in 1998. He's won major races for the last twelve years, including Arkansas Derby, the Secretariat, the Pacific Classic and most recently this year's Breeders' Cup Mile and Juvenile. A winner of over 2,000 races for his career, Gomez tallied 245 wins and $14.2 million in earnings last year.
Bob and John is owned by the Stonerside Stable. Stonerside is the farm and racing stable name of husband and wife Robert and Janice McNair; Houston, TX residents who own the NFL's Houston Texans, who began playing in 2002. They have approximately 60 horses in training with over a dozen trainers.
Bob and John is trained by the great, Bob Baffert. Baffert has won three of the last eight Kentucky Derbys, including back-to-back wins in '97 and '98 with Silver Charm and Real Quiet, respectively, before capturing the '02 running with War Emblem. He is one of only three trainers ("Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons and Max Hirsch) to have won the Derby three times. Only Wayne Lukas and Dick Thompson (4 wins) and Ben A. Jones (6) have more Derby wins than Baffert.
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