Baffert isn't on course for this Kentucky Derby

So the mandate seems obvious: Go east, young man.

"There's nothing like winning races on the East Coast," he says. "They are more important there."

Asked if he had a choice between winning the Wood Memorial, a major Eastern Derby prep race, or the Santa Anita Derby, the West's counterpart to the Wood, Baffert doesn't even pause.

"The Wood's bigger," he says.

Baffert says he understands that California will have to give the synthetic surfaces an extended try, because of the money invested. He also says he doesn't think they will last five years.

As for the Kentucky Derby, Baffert says he'll do everything he can to get back to what he calls the most expensive piece of real estate in the world, the Churchill Downs winner's circle.

"My kids have never been there," says the father of five. "I want them to experience that."

Now that would be a signature moment for the sport.

--

Bill Dwyre can be reached at bill.dwyre@latimes.com. For previous columns by Dwyre, go to latimes.com/dwyre.