A HORSE A TRAINER COULD LOVE.

Byline: Michael Ventre

He has beach-bum white hair and a professional tan. He wears dark shades. By the time he arrives at the track, most of the old guard trainers have already been there and drained the first pot of coffee.

Bob Baffert is anything but a 9-to-5 guy, or in this case, a 4 a.m.-to-noon guy. He has built a solid reputation by specializing in quarter horses early and sprint-mad thoroughbreds later on. Far from living on pretense, he is the contruction worker who lives for weekend boating, or the mechanic who surfs before work.

Now Baffert has an image problem. He'll likely have to take his mellow self to Kentucky, where the profiles are as high as the stakes. Baffert earned that privilege Saturday, when a 3-year-old gelding named Cavonnier surprised the establishment and won the Santa Anita Derby, almost guaranteeing Baffert his first contender at Churchill Downs.

``I want to go there to win it,'' Baffert explained. ``I don't want to go just to go. That's too far to fly.''

Cavonnier is the ideal escort for Baffert's trip east. The 43-year-old trainer has called the horse ``lazy'' and Saturday said, more diplomatically, that ``he paces himself.''

In Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Derby, Cavonnier paced himself past more esteemed colleagues Alyrob, Honour And Glory, Prince of Thieves and Matty G to pay $22 on a winning ducat.

``My thinking right now is that hopefully he'll come out of the race in one piece,'' Baffert said, ``and if he's still training strong, we'll take him to the Derby.

``This race,'' he added, ``was make or break.''

Not so for the trainer himself. It is no coincidence that Baffert has parlayed banker's hours all the way to the bank. Since giving up quarter horses one day after the 1991 California Cup, he has compiled an impressive list of stakes victories, including the Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1992, his most important triumph prior to Saturday.

This, though, is higher-altitude stuff. Aside from the favored Unbridled's Song, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby has as much of a shot in the Kentucky Derby as any other winner of any other prep.

``The Breeders' Cup was a totally different kind of win,'' Baffert said. ``It's hard to explain. You win this race, you start to think about the Kentucky Derby. The last 16th of a mile, that's all I was thinking about, coming down the stretch at Churchill Downs with Alyrob chasing him.''

Now Baffert has a few other thoughts. For instance, on Saturday his wife Sherry accompanied their son to a critical Little League tilt rather than make the jaunt from their home in Huntington Beach to the Arcadia oval for Saturday's race.

``My wife said to me this morning, `Will I need to buy a hat?' '' Baffert said, referring not to any hat, but a genuine, officially licensed Kentucky Derby socialite chapeau.

``I said, `We'll know today.' ''

Now they know.

Another conversation Baffert had before Saturday was with a turf writer, who asked him what he would do if he happened to win the Santa Anita Derby.

``I'll probably run naked through the backside,'' he explained.

Get your bets down now.

Of course, another scribe reminded him of this and asked what he would do if he happened to win the Kentucky Derby, too.

``I can't say in front of all these people,'' he said.

Yet another facet of Baffert's suddenly expanded universe is the prospect of having two - yes, two - horses racing at Churchill Downs. He'll run Semoran in the Blue Grass next Saturday. Winner of four straight, Semoran could occupy a stall within whinnying distance of Cavonnier if he performs in the prep.

``I expect Semoran to run well in the Blue Grass,'' Baffert said. ``I think I have two legitimate shots at it.''

Right now, though, the champagne is pouring over Cavonnier, who sat back Saturday behind the leaders early, then dashed past Honour And Glory inside the eighth pole and held off Alyrob to win by 1-3/4 lengths.

``Bob's in a good spot. He's got a couple of horses,'' noted Cavonnier's jockey, Chris McCarron. ``We're going to call him D. Wayne Baffert. Maybe just B. Bob Baffert.''

In Louisville, he may not be one of the first targets of the TV cameras or the darling of the upper crust. And you might even say Baffert is a little too easy-going about going. ``I've never been to the Derby,'' he said with a cool grin. ``Never made it this far before.''

Thanks to Cavonnier and McCarron, he's on his way, even if it is at a relaxed pace.

MEMO: Michael Ventre's column appears in the Daily News four days a week.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) Jockey Chris McCarron and Cavonnier out finish Alyrob, who was disqualified to last place.

John McCoy / Daily News

(2) Baffert