ARCADIA, Calif. – When popular racing executive Brad McKinzie died a little more than two years ago from cancer at age 62, his loss impacted many people on the Southern California circuit, perhaps none more so than trainer Bob Baffert, who had grown so close to McKinzie since their days four decades earlier at the University of Arizona that they were practically brothers. It was McKinzie who encouraged Baffert to relocate from Arizona to Southern California and train Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos, a move that helped launch a career that eventually took Baffert to the Thoroughbreds and a place in the Hall of Fame. To Baffert’s children, he was Uncle Brad. Baffert’s mother, who had four boys, called McKinzie “the fifth brother.” And when the reality of McKinzie’s grim health prognosis could no longer be denied, during a visit to see McKinzie the ailing man told Baffert’s youngest son, Bode, “You’ll have lots of friends, but you’ll be lucky to have five really good friends in life.” “Your dad,” McKinzie said, “was one of my five friends.” Everyone in the room was in tears. To honor McKinzie, owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman – all of whom were friendly with McKinzie – two years ago named a promising, unraced 2-year-old Street Sense colt they had with Baffert after McKinzie. “You want to get that right,” Baffert said. They did. McKinzie has turned out to be one of the best horses in the country, and on Saturday he’ll try to win the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. Win or lose, there will be plenty of emotions tugging at Baffert’s heart. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2019: See DRF’s special section with fields, odds, comments, and more “I think about Brad all the time. Every time he runs I think about him,” Baffert said. “There’s definitely an emotional attachment there. I think that’s why I take his losses harder, and why his wins are more exciting.” McKinzie, 4, has won seven times in 13 starts, with five seconds. He owns four Grade 1 victories, including this year’s Whitney at Saratoga. But a couple that got away – second-place finishes in the Met Mile and, most recently, in the Awesome Again – broke up the original McKinzie team. Baffert decided to replace Mike Smith, who had ridden McKinzie in all his races to date, for the Classic, eventually hiring Joel Rosario. “I think that’s why when he got beat, I was double mad,” Baffert said. “I take it very emotionally. He’s had some tough trips.” It’s easy to see why Baffert and Brad McKinzie fell into a close friendship. In addition to sharing their love for racing, both had senses of humor that played off one another. Brad McKinzie, a big, hulking presence, once was in Seattle with Baffert visiting one of Baffert’s brothers, Bill, who lived there at the time. During a golf outing, McKinzie hit a drive so hard that, owing to the locale and his physique, a new nickname was born. He was called Sasquatch. “This big old guy knocking the hell out of the ball,” Baffert recalled. “He was funny, quick-witted, a really loyal friend.” McKinzie originally kept his dire health condition a secret, saying he had back trouble, or was on a diet. He kept working away for as long as he was able while looking after a brother who has special needs, and his elderly mother. “That’s the kind of guy he was. He never thought about himself,” Baffert said. “It was tough. I couldn’t believe what he went through.” McKinzie was instrumental in the expansion of Los Alamitos following the demise of Hollywood Park. He helped horsemen obtain more affordable worker’s compensation insurance. He wanted the whole circuit, and both breeds, to thrive. But his heart was at Los Alamitos. “He took a lot of pride with Los Al,” Baffert said. “That’s where he grew up, where he got his first job.” And it’s a place that Baffert occasionally has to remind himself doesn’t have McKinzie looking after things. “I always want to pick up the phone when something’s up at Los Alamitos. I want to call him,” Baffert said. It was at Los Alamitos, four months after McKinzie’s death, that the equine McKinzie got his first significant victory, via disqualification in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity. McKinzie was on the Kentucky Derby trail early in 2018, but an injury in March sent him to the sidelines for six months. He returned to win the Pennsylvania Derby, but six weeks later in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs he finished 12th, the only time he has ever been worse than second. Since then, McKinzie has won three times and finished second four times. He’s still in position to win an Eclipse Award as champion older dirt male if he can capture the Classic. “I always feel with some of these good horses that they’ve got a little angel on their backs. American Pharoah,” Baffert said, referring to his 2015 Triple Crown winner, “it was my parents. This horse, it’s Brad. There’s someone watching over them.”