by Jeff Lowe

Bob Baffert was loud and clear in his disdain for the synthetic tracks in Southern California after Hollywood Park started the move away from dirt in 2006. He was one of the most vocal critics when the Santa Anita Park surface went through a series of crises in ’07 and ’08.

Somewhere along the way, Baffert decided to quit fighting and to adjust. Remarkably, he nearly has come full circle, and his success in adapting will be on full display among his four starters in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Baffert has won two races in each of the last two Breeders’ Cups, on two different surfaces. He pulled a double with Indian Blessing in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Midnight Lute in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) in 2007 over the sloppy dirt track Monmouth Park. Last year over the revamped Pro-Ride track at Santa Anita, he scored a repeat with Midnight Lute in the Sprint and prevailed in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) with Midshipman.

Baffert said he is tempering his expectations this year with a group that includes probable favorites Zensational (Sprint) and Lookin At Lucky (Juvenile), along with Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) winner Richard’s Kid (Breeders’ Cup Classic [G1]) and Oak Leaf Stakes (G1) runner-up Always a Princess (Juvenile Fillies).

“I just hope I can win one,” Baffert said. “I don’t like to jinx myself. I’m in a position where if everything falls in place I could win one, two, three, or four.”

Two years ago, Baffert was not even sure he could keep going in Southern California, at least without sending some of his horses to the East Coast, where they could compete on dirt.

Baffert is to the point now where he is thriving on synthetics, and he heads into Breeders’ Cup week on a torrid run that includes six consecutive victories at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday.

“I’ve had to change,” Baffert said. “I’ve had to buy horses that I know will be able to adapt to it. … I think this track has changed also. As it wears out, they play a little more like dirt. When they first came out, everybody loved them and I hated them. Now, I like them, I’m getting along with them, and everyone hates them. I don’t know what’s going on there.”

The one horse that has been unable to fully adapt is Indian Blessing, the champion two-year-old filly of 2007 and champion female sprinter of ’08. Indian Blessing won the La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita in December and finished second to Ventura in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, but Baffert decided to keep her in the barn for this year’s edition, convinced that she is not at her best on the surface.

“The only one that just hates it is Indian Blessing,” Baffert said. “She despises it. I had Simon, who works her and gallops in New York, get on her and gallop her here. He could not believe how she feels on the synthetic compared to the dirt. It’s amazing, a horse like her that has that brilliant speed. Even though she has a track record here, it’s different when she’s on it compared to dirt.”

Lookin at Lucky, Zensational, Richard’s Kid, and Always a Princess showed their affinity for the surface in their final workouts for the Breeders’ Cup. Always a Princess covered five furlongs in a bullet :58.40 on Sunday. On Monday, Lookin At Lucky and Richard’s Kid both drilled four furlongs in :47.20, and Zensational blazed a half-mile in :45.20.

Baffert singled out Lookin At Lucky, who is unbeaten in four starts, as his best chance for a victory.

“He just keeps on winning,” Baffert said. “He’s easy to train and keeps getting better. From the beginning, we thought the world of this colt, and he keeps on progressing. He seems to just get it done. Of all my horses I’d say he’s my best chance.”

Baffert said the one remaining question for Zensational, riding a streak of three straight Grade 1 wins, is how he will fare against elite horses.

“He is a just magnificent-looking horse and extremely fast,” Baffert said. “We’ve never had to set him down in a race. He wasn’t running against really top-caliber horses but he was doing it pretty handily. Sort of like [Rachel Alexandra] facing the fillies. [Jockey Victor Espinoza] will have to turn him loose this time. He’s just an amazing horse.

“Coming in here, I feel just like I did last year with Midnight Lute. It’s like Zenyatta—is she that good against top colts? We’ll find out. Nobody can say, ‘Well she can’t run with the boys.’ We’re going to find out. We’re going to find out Saturday what Zensational is really made of. He’s going to have to get on his belly and run the whole way.”

For complete Thoroughbred Times coverage of the Breeders' Cup, click here.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer