The long Thanksgiving weekend started with trainer Bob Baffert returning to Churchill Downs after a three-year-absence with a winning 2-year-old colt and wound up with that colt as the top individual choice in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

Bob Baffert has returned to Churchill Downs for the first time in 3 1/2 years. He saddled the winner of the seventh race at the home of the Kentucky Derby.

Lest anyone think the seventh race at Churchill Downs Nov. 27 was just a routine maiden race, one only needed to glance in the paddock for those in attendance. Track executives were back to welcome trainer Bob Baffert after a three-year suspension.

"To be back here, it's just enjoyable; I have great memories here at Churchill Downs, it's a historic racetrack and it just, it's a great day."

Trainer Bob Baffert, back at Churchill Downs for the first time since the end of his suspension by CDI, saddled the winner in the seventh race Wednesday.

Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. “To be back here, it’s just enjoyable,” Baffert said. “I have great memories here at Churchill Downs. It’s an historic racetrack, and it’s a great day.

The 2-year-old Into Mischief colt marked Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's first starter beneath the Twin Spires since the end of his three-year suspension by Churchill Downs Incorporated in 2021.