Asked whether he was surprised by the finding that Bafferts barn was the deadliest in California, Roberts laughed. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. He built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. His most serious infraction was also his first. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. Rick Arthur, Californias medical equine director, who the documents show played a central role in the scuttling of the Justify matter, said the only part of the CHRBs handling of the case that disappointed him was the secrecy. The California Horse Racing Board cleared Baffert of any wrongdoing, but with reservation, calling such a cluster of deaths a less than 1-in-1,000 occurrence. With private eyes and political muscle, horse racings elite pushed to punish dopers, Throughout the months-long process, CHRB officials had indicated they planned on filing a complaint against Baffert, which would have exposed the failed drug test. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. Time after time its not his fault. By age 20, he had developed a reputation as a trainer and was hired by other trainers to run their stables.
Arkansas racing officials vote not to suspend Bob Baffert - ESPN.com CNN Hall of Fame horse trainer Bob Baffert will miss the Kentucky Derby for a second straight year after a federal judge denied his request to have a two-year ban by Churchill Downs Inc.. It takes only a minute or so to walk from the racetrack at Santa Anita Park to the barns in back. It was obvious long before Miners Daughter collapsed in a blood-tinged froth in March 2013 that there was something amiss in Barn 61 at Hollywood Park, the Los Angeles-area racetrack. The. Once again, the Hall of Fame. It didnt take Baffert long to dominate Rillito Park and Prescott Downs in Arizona. We have a real conundrum to sort out, Arthur wrote in an email to top CHRB officials, explaining he believed a disqualification would be terribly unfair. More than a year earlier, the Association of Racing Commissioners International, which creates model rules for the sports various state bodies, had reclassified scopolamine from a 3/B to a 4/C drug. ), The records show Arthurs early decisions led to the CHRB veering off its usual course in its handling of the Justify case, beginning with his email to a testing coordinator that read, The scopolamine cases will be handled differently than usual., By the CHRBs own guidelines, the way forward was clear: If a second sample came back positive, the CHRB would file a complaint. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOC's political action committee, California records show. Baffert is a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and has several top prospects for the May 5 race. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story.
A New York federal judge on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 nullified the suspension of horse trainer Bob Baffert, finding that the New York Racing Association acted unconstitutionally by failing to let him adequately respond to claims made against him after Kentucky . But Baffert and his lawyers had since established a reputation for pugnaciousness when regulators attempted to discipline him.
The last stand of Bob Baffert, horse racing's top trainer - Los Angeles But a top veterinary official cleared Baffert, finding that the spate of deaths remains unexplained following a probe that demonstrated the hazards of going after Baffert. Last October Gamine was disqualified from third to last in the Kentucky Oaks after betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory, was discovered in the horses system. LOS ANGELES In 2018, as star trainer Bob Baffert led his thoroughbred Justify to the Triple Crown, California regulators embarked on a secret effort to exonerate Baffert after the horses positive test for a banned substance, according to confidential records obtained by The Washington Post that fully detail the saga for the first time. Bob Baffert has moved his way up the ladder to the extent that he has the most influential, the wealthiest owners in the industry, that he takes on the highest-quality horses possible because he wins races.
EXPLAINER: Why Is Bob Baffert Not in the Kentucky Derby? The veterinarian chalked up Bafferts response to ignorance. [45], Last edited on 11 February 2023, at 14:09, American Pharoah Stakes / FrontRunner Stakes / Norfolk Stakes, Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes / Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap, Los Alamitos Futurity / Hollywood Futurity, Starlet Stakes / Hollywood Starlet Stakes, United States Champion Trainer by earnings, American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse, American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, "Bob Baffert Has Come a Long Way in Horse Racing", "Baffert nears $300M mark with an all-star stable", "American Pharoah claims first Triple Crown since 1978", "Bob Baffert no stranger to failed drug tests by his horses", "Press Release Racing Museum April 20, 2009", "The last stand of Bob Baffert, horse racing's most successful and embattled trainer", "Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win in doubt after postrace drug test", "Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Withdrawal Guidelines Thoroughbred; Standardbred; Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, and Arabian", "Baffert: Meds applied to Derby winner had steroid", "Medina Spirit Tests Positive for Betamethasone", "Baffert says Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive", "Churchill Downs' Statement in Response to Medina Spirit's Post-Race Test Result Allegations", "Trainer: Kentucky Derby winner faces disqualification due to 'cancel culture', "Bob Baffert asserts Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win was valid, invokes 'cancel culture', "Bob Baffert says Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with ointment that contained steroid", "Baffert Has Turned Medina Spirit Controversy Into a Circus", "Baffert's Leaking Credibility Reaches Saturation Point", "Churchill Downs Inc. suspends Baffert for 2 years", "Trainer Bob Baffert suspended from entering Medina Spirit, other horses at Belmont Park", "New York Racing Officials Suspend Baffert From Belmont Stakes", "Trainer Bob Baffert sues to get New York suspension lifted", "Horse trainer Bob Baffert sues New York racing officials over suspension", "Baffert sues to overturn New York racing ban", "Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension", "Baffert charged by New York Racing, scheduled for hearing", "Legendary horse trainer charged again following Kentucky Derby scandal", "NYRA Amends Charges Against Baffert to Include Bute Overages", "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest", "Bob Baffert fined $1,500, Gamine disqualified from third-place finish in Kentucky Oaks", "Here's what we know following Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's positive drug test", "Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack at Santa Anita", "Baffert Horses Big Part of Sudden Death Spike", "Report on the investigation and review of the seven sudden deaths on the Hollywood Park main track of horses trained by Bob Baffert and stabled in Barn 61", "Cardiac Failure Fatalities Spike in California, Baffert Barn", "Bafferts Make Whopper Of A Donation To Equine Charities", "Bafferts, Espinoza donate Belmont winnings", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Baffert&oldid=1138770123, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 14:09. The goal, the people familiar said, was to get Baffert to support languishing reforms in the sport. He was fined $1,500. He was born on January 13, 1953, in Nogales, AZ. Real Quiet won the Preakness as well, but, like Silver Charm, the horse was denied a Triple Crown win and finished second in the Belmont Stakes by a nose. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. Clark Brewster, a nationally known trial attorney who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her defamation suit against President Trump, will be Bafferts attorney in any litigation against Churchill Downs. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. Monty Roberts, a trainer who has agitated for more humane treatment of racehorses throughout his six-decade career, said that Baffert has long been one of the most important voices holding the sport back from reform. You could trust him and that never changed.. He declined to answer further questions. Baffert wants a preliminary injunction that would keep Churchill Downs from denying his horses entry into races there and at Turfway Park, in Florence, Ky., and from "prohibiting him from earning. Some of the earlier violations do give you pause. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Gray's . Bell told an investigator he then checked other bales and found a branch and pods he thought were Jimson weed in the parking lot. But Clark Brewster, the attorney representing Medina Spirits owner, Amr Zedan, then contacted The Post and described Baffert as being unfairly maligned. [18] Baffert responded by saying the situation "was like a cancel culture kind of a thing," a remark which earned him noticeable criticism from the press. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isnt even done yet. It then changed the classification of scopolamine so that its detection in a horse would trigger only a fine and not disqualification and loss of the races purse. [25][26] On June 14, 2021, Baffert sued the NYRA alleging the association had no authority to suspend his license and that suspension "without prior notice" was a violation of the law. [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. According to protocols, the medication is supposed to have a 14-day withdrawal period. Two months after Arthur cleared Baffert, the legislation to limit his term died. The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc. in federal court to end his suspension. Baffert, a La Caada Flintridge resident who is currently training his horses at Santa Anita, has not officially been charged with anything related to Medina Spirit. CHRB regulations state that its foreign substances guidelines are based on ARCI recommendations as modified by the state board.
Bob Baffert says Medina Spirit a victim of cancel culture | Lexington Horse trainer Bob Baffert on Monday argued that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit had been a victim of "cancel culture" after the horse failed a postrace drug test . In response to public records requests in Maryland, New Jersey and Kentucky, officials told The Post that they did not maintain digital records of horse deaths by trainer, instead keeping reams of copies of reports. Longtime client Mike Pegram explained, "Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate himhe's a wiseass and irreverent." Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by Mike Pegram, to win the Preakness Stakes in 2010. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. [10][12] However, his violations for use of prohibited medications has sparked controversy. In February, Kentucky racing officials decided against suspending Baffert, with Borden telling the Louisville Courier-Journal a lesser punishment was all in the course of being fair. And in April, Arkansas officials reversed the 15-day suspension for lidocaine positives that the trainer blamed on an assistants pain patch. Hes Mr. Teflon.. A complaint is filed in every case where the split sample confirms the original laboratory finding, read an advisory on the CHRB website. Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds.
In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. The scheme involved digging up drug-related dirt on Baffert and then telling him that the evidence could disappear tomorrow if he were to endorse the federal reforms of the sport, one of the people said. Closing everything and moving forward is in Bobs best interest and the best interest of horse racing. Arthur B. Hancock III, a prominent thoroughbred owner, has for three decades been a leading proponent for eradicating drugs from the sport. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. And he does know generally when to stop on a horse.. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. Garcia left California horse racing the next year, according to CHRB records; he could not be reached for comment by The Post. Its bizarre, Baedeker said, because you have a deputy attorney general criticizing the board for following the law to the letter.. Cardoza, who now works for a law firm, denied in an interview last month that the TOC was involved: Not at all. But he then said, TOCs involvement in that bill had nothing to do with Bob Baffert., Instead, Cardoza said, the drive to oust Arthur was over his opposition to Lasix. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. But until now, those violations, some of which Baffert has succeeded in getting overturned or reduced, have resulted in roughly $20,000 in fines against $321 million in career earnings. Grays office told the committee that removing Dr. Arthur from his position, while intentional, is not the sole purpose of the bill, records show. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Hal Earnhardt, an Arizona car dealer and Bafferts oldest client, introduced him to Pegram, who made his money in fast-food franchising. Baffert was granted a stay until April 4 to gain time for an appeal. He also dismissed complaints that doping was rampant in the sport. Four months later, during a confidential executive session, Arthur and CHRB Director Rick Baedeker recommended that the commissioners not move forward with the disqualification of Justify, arguing that the scopolamine positive was probably the result of contamination from jimson weed. Baffert has paid out over $20,000 in fines, but compared against over $321 million in career earnings. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. Among them, according to interviews and records obtained by The Post: a push to have the veterinary official removed from office, supported by a trade group with Baffert among its directors. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. This America's different." pic . Were going to get through it.. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. He views himself as an ambassador for the sport. Share on Facebook TWEET This . But in 2018, Arthur was still on the job when another Baffert-trained horse tested regulators willingness to challenge him. [13] In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. But hes a good person, no, a great person.
Trainer Bob Baffert has heart attack in Dubai - CBS News I felt that we wouldve been dumping this in their lap, that we wouldve been putting them in an unfair position, and that we needed to go ahead and do the difficult thing, quite frankly, which is take responsibility for the decision, Baedeker said. Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? Yeah, sure, hes a wiseass and irreverent. Baffert was recently suspended for 90 days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, California Horse Racing Board, and the New York State Gaming Commission for drug violations in the 2021 Kentucky . According to data provided by the California Horse Racing Board and supplemented by The Times research, the trainer has had 75 horses die since 2000 either racing, training, or by illness or non-exercise accidents. Doug ONeill, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, was one of the few trainers who would talk about Bafferts recent troubles.