Remember the 1975 film starring John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn called “Rooster Cogburn,” a one-eyed marshal hoping to chase down some bad guys? Almost half a century later, and after two other thoroughbreds with the same name, Cogburn is a horse that has excelled, winning six of his last seven races.
The horse is trained by Steve Asmussen but originally was bought by Bob Baffert.
“I bought the horse for [Mike] Pegram, [Karl] Watson and [Paul] Weitman at the Fasig-Tipton sale,” Baffert said. “But he had this thing on his eye that hadn’t healed up. So, they gave me a warranty on him for 30 days. It cleared up but they said the other eye had some problems. The vet suggested we turn him back.
“So, they put him in a 2-year-old in training sale and he worked really fast. He was named Cogburn because they thought he had only one good eye. That’s where the name came from.”
Cogburn is the 7-5 favorite in Saturday’s Turf Sprint. He is owned by Clark Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt. Brewster was Baffert’s attorney in the litigation surrounding the disqualification of Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
“If I had kept him, I might not have put him on the turf,” Baffert said with a self-deprecating chuckle.