ELMONT, N.Y. — Friday morning at Belmont Park brought one of the rarest sights of this Triple Crown season — Bob Baffert on the back of a horse.
Though he was once a jockey and has guided the careers of some of the greatest thoroughbreds of the last 20 years, Baffert usually stays on the ground these days. His steed on this rare occasion was one of the great supporting characters in American Pharoah's quest for the Triple Crown — the beloved buckskin Smokey.
"I got on him today just to release a little nervous energy," Baffert said. "I just really enjoy him. He's like my little hobby, my reminder that I used to ride horses."
Smokey, a familiar presence at the Hall of Fame trainer's barn, plays the same role for American Pharoah. He's the gentle compadre to the powerfully muscled Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion. When American Pharoah finishes a morning gallop, Smokey is the first one there to greet him.
"He's a sweet horse," Baffert said. "It's pretty cool to see when Pharoah pulls up, there's Pharoah and Smokey walking together. The two stars of the barn are out there together."
The trainer, meanwhile, rubs Smokey's head for luck before big races.
Baffert had been on the lookout for a buckskin pony ever since he retired a previous favorite, Cisco. He bought Smokey from Nebraska-based Twombly Performance Horses after he was taken with a video of the horse performing in a reining competition.
He liked the pony's relaxed demeanor and figured he could teach his 10-year-old son, Bode, to ride on the buckskin. Theirs is a relationship that will last longer than Baffert's interactions with most of his big stars.
"Smokey is my favorite horse in the barn," he said. "These stakes horses, we're with them for a year or two and then they go to pasture or to brood mares. But Smokey, he's always going to be there."