Bob Baffert’s Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Getty Bob Baffert's family includes wife Jill.

Bob Baffert, the legendary horse trainer, has five children. How many wives has he had? Two. He has children with both Jill and Sherry, his second and first wives.

Baffert has three horses in the 2019 Kentucky Derby; they are: Game Winner, Roadster, and Improbable.

“There’s three of them there,” Baffert explained to Blood Horse. “They all have different styles. There’s Game Winner; he’s tough. He’s like the fullback. Then you’ve got Roadster; real light, lean, but he gets over the ground well. I’m just happy to be here with three really nice horses.”

Here’s what you need to know about Bob Baffert’s family:

1. Bob Baffert’s Current Wife, Jill Baffert, Is a Former Television Reporter

GettyBob Baffert with Jill Baffert and their son, Bode.

In 2015, the Daily Herald ran a profile on Jill Baffert, explaining that she was a former journalist and waitress from Centerville. At the time, she was 42-years-old. To the newspaper, she described how she likes to scratch the nose of American Pharoah, the Bob Baffert-trained Triple Crown winner.

Jill Baffert described feeling joy about the direction her life has taken. “I can walk inside and scratch him on the nose whenever I want,” Jill told The Daily Herald. “I have a wonderful life. I am so happy.”

According to Daily Herald, Jill Baffert is the former Miss Hickman County beauty queen. She also worked as a waitress for Breece’s Cafe. She then moved on to a television career, working for a television station in Kentucky, according to Daily Herald. Indeed, she found work at WLKY-TV in Louisville, where the Kentucky Derby is based. She met Baffert when she was running a morning show; according to Daily Herald, he was married to his first wife at the time.

2. Bob Baffert’s Son With Jill Is Named Bode But He Wants to Be a Meteorologist

GettyBob Baffert with son, Bode, along with wife, Jill.

Bob Baffert has a son named Bode Baffert with Jill. Bode was present when American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, and he wasn’t shy about expressing his excitement over the win.

Jill Baffert even helped the couple’s son, Bode, dress up in a mullet wig as the trainer.

When American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, Bode told a reporter that the best part of it all was “winning.”

Bode doesn’t want to be a horse trainer though, despite his dad’s success. He wants to be a meteorologist.

“Before a big race, Bode updates me on the forecast every 20 minutes,” Baffert said, according to Newsday. “He follows the Doppler.”

3. Bob Baffert’s Parents Ran a Cattle Ranch

Getty

Bob Baffert was born January 13, 1953, Nogales, Arizona, according to Britannica.

According to the site, his parents ran a cattle ranch, which is where Baffert grew up. Thus, he was exposed to horses early on. By the time he was a teenager, he was racing as a jockey, and he studied animal sciences at the University of Arizona.

Eventually, he switched his efforts to horse training. Baffert’s mother is named Ellie. His father is named Bill Baffert Sr. He has three brothers and three sisters, according to the Los Angeles Times.

4. Bob Baffert Was Previously Married to Wife Sherry

The Bafferts enjoyed quite the year, as they watched their horse, American Pharaoh, race to horseracing’s first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. American Pharaoh is up for “Best Championship Performance,” while the man atop the horse, Victor Espinoza, is nominated for “Best Jockey.”

Before Bob Baffert met and married Jill Baffert, he was married to his first wife, Sherry. According to the Los Angeles Times, when Baffert’s marriage to Sherry fell apart, it made some of his siblings “uncomfortable” because they were close to her.

They had four children together. In 2001, the children were between the ages of 7 and 15. “Sherry was well liked by her in-law,” The Times reported.

According to the Times, Baffert preferred “to keep his marital difficulties private, but friends say his breakup was doubly damaging because of his family’s attachment to Sherry Baffert.” His autobiography didn’t make much mention of Sherry, the newspaper reported.

“When Bob made the move from Arizona to Los Alamitos, we got married and I started having children. What I didn’t like about it was Bob’s schedule,” she was quoted as saying in the book, The Times reported. “He never went to the barn quite as early as everyone else, but once he got there, he’d hang around, then go out to lunch. He’d come home and take a nap and have dinner, then it would be time to go back to the track for the [night] races, and he’d be gone until late at night.”

5. Bob Baffert Has Five Children Overall

Trainer Bob Baffert of American Pharoah #18 celebrates with his son Bode and Owner Ahmed Zayat in winners circle after winning the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert’s first wife said in the book that she became lonely during their marriage. According to the Los Angeles Times, she said, “After our son Taylor [now 15] was born, I remember being super lonely on the weekends, watching all the families together with their kids, and it was just me and Taylor.”

Baffert also has a daughter named Savannah Baffert, and sons Forest Baffert, and Canyon Baffert. In 2015, Bob Baffert told The Sacramento Bee, “I had my (older) boys there with me; they’d never been to a Derby. And Bode (his youngest) cheering; he wanted it so bad. It was just raw emotion. … It was the greatest day of my racing career.”

The Bee described his children as “Canyon, an Arizona graduate like his dad” who works for a telecommunications and intelligence consulting company in Virginia; Taylor, working as a Mercedes-Benz salesman in Newport Beach; Forest who was attending San Diego State; and Savannah, who was attending Cal Poly.

“There are no lawyers or doctors in there; they’re just getting through,” Baffert said to The Bee. “My kids have never really been into horses for some reason; they never really got the bug.”