Baffert recovering fast, training from his bed

Dubai: Two-time winner of the Dubai World and trainer Bob Baffert is making a fast recovery after suffering a heart attack here in the early hours of Monday.

But a little more than 24 hours since that incident, Bernie Schiappa, co-owner of Game On Dude, which is a Baffert-trained runner in Saturday's  $10 million Dubai World Cup, hailed the medical care in Dubai and termed it "unbelievable".

"I spoke to him (Baffert) just before coming here. He is very fine and he is training from the bed," said Schiappa addressing a press conference on Tuesday morning.

"If he had his way, he would walk out now but the doctors won't allow him," he said and then explained Baffert's hospitalisation in the wee hours on Monday morning.

"It happened at about 3am. My wife got a phone call from Bob's wife Jill saying he had chest pain, tightening in his chest and his arm was numb and his palms were sweaty. So my wife told her to call 911 right away and said that sounded like a stroke," Schiappa said.

"The paramedics soon came and he was rushed to the emergency room of the hospital. If it was California or Las Vegas, there would be so many people in an emergency room but here there was just one person in the emergency room and it was unbelievable what they did," he said.

"In the meantime I called Tim Yakteen (assistant to Baffert) who is with the horses here and he called a vet who works for Godolphin and then His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai was informed," he said. "The way we were handled from the time we got to the emergency room throughout to the ICU was unbelievable," the 68-year-old said.

"We were told he needed an angioplasty and they wanted to do it right now. And here we were in the ICU room and within 20 minutes the procedure was on. Three stents were put in - one block in the main artery was 100 per cent, and two stents in one other artery."

"I just want to say one thing to Shaikh Mohammad- That was a class act. To me, that is a friend for life," said Schiappa. Shaikh Mohammad had visited Baffert at the hospital on Monday.

"My best friend Terry Lane co-owner of Game on Dude, he passed away last year. And his wife is coming with her two boys. It will be a big emotional fact if he will win for both Bob and Terry and for us. We are proud to be here, nobody wants to lose, everybody wants to win but we are good losers. But it would be special if he wins especially after what went on this week," he said.