Let’s start by addressing what has been the elephant in the room at Churchill Downs for several years now: Bob Baffert.

The 71-year-old trainer will not have a presence in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Last July, Churchill Downs extended Baffert’s suspension (originally lasting two years) through 2024. This prevents Baffert from entering horses at all racetracks owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), through this year.

For each of the last two Derbys, horses that were under Baffert’s guidance were transferred to one of his former assistant trainers, Tim Yakteen, who oversaw the horses as they racked up enough qualifying points to make the Derby field.

In 2022, Taiba ran 12th and Messier ran 15th.

In 2023, Reincarnate ran 13th.

But this year, none of Baffert’s horses were transferred to Yakteen or another trainer in the hopes of having them accumulate enough qualifying points to make the starting gate.

“I just remain focused on training my horses and competing in the big races,” Baffert told John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times earlier this year.

As has been the case in past years, if a Baffert-trained horse secures any qualifying points toward the Derby in a prep race, those points are vacated.

Baffert’s suspension from CDI racetracks came after Medina Spirit tested positive for a substance banned on race day after winning the Kentucky Derby in 2021. Baffert then sued Churchill Downs, but that legal battle seems to have been settled: Baffert announced in late January that he would be dropping his suit, although his suspension from tracks owned by CDI remains in effect.

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