Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. was. was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. A 23-page analysis of that case, sent to the CHRB by a California deputy attorney general in July and obtained by The Post, suggests the states lawyers were concerned about the way the agency responded to the failed drug test. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. The cluster of sudden deaths remains unexplained and there was no evidence whatsoever CHRB rules or regulations have been violated or any illicit activity played a part in the deaths, Arthurs report concluded. The first two infractions occurred in May 2020, when the horses Charlatan and Gamine tested positive in Arkansas for lidocaine, a numbing agent. Churchill Downs announced that any points earned in the leadup to the Kentucky Derby by horses associated with a suspended trainer would not be counted a move that seemingly targets Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. In an email Monday, Bafferts attorney, W. Craig Robertson III, referred to the CHRBs initial decision to dismiss the test and a hearing last year in which officials ruled they had no authority to overturn that decision. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. The legal records, which draw from dozens of emails, memorandums and other materials that have not previously been made public, show how officials delayed action, contradicted their own plans and rewrote existing rules to Bafferts advantage. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate him, Pegram said. Officials worked to clear Bob Baffert's Justify after Triple Crown run Trainer Bob Baffert's ban from racing in New York is over - Associated Press Baffert barred from participating in Preakness Stakes by Maryland commission By Jacob Calvin Meyer - The. After Uncle Sam, a 4-year-old colt, died during a workout at the track the following January, a vet wrote: This is the 3rd for this owner/trainer in about as many months collapsed and died.. I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. High Connection won the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby by 1 3/4 lengths Saturday, giving trainer Bob Baffert his second victory on the card in his return to competition after serving a 90-day suspension. "[29][30] On September 10, 2021 Baffert was charged by NYRA for conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing. In the past three years, there were 188 deaths involving either racing or training in California. And Bafferts veterinarians were prescribing it at his request without conducting laboratory tests to see whether the horses needed the drug, according to Arthurs later report. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. Drop dead while galloping, read a California Horse Racing Board vets account of the first horses death in November 2011. He's saddled. Baffert said in his autobiography it was a combination of ignorance and desperation. But after learning that Justify and another Baffert horse had tested positive for the same drug, Arthur announced in an e-mail to CHRB officials: The scopolamine cases will be handled differently than usual. Arthur said in a recent interview that he was referring to the logistics of what was clearly going to be a high-profile case that needed to be handled carefully.. It elicited little notice; racehorses die by the hundreds per year in California alone. 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. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. It takes only a minute or so to walk from the racetrack at Santa Anita Park to the barns in back. But Baffert and his lawyers had since established a reputation for pugnaciousness when regulators attempted to discipline him. [2][4], Baffert established his early reputation with less expensive horses like Silver Charm and Real Quiet, bought for $16,500 and $17,000 respectively. Ruis is suing the CHRB for absolving Baffert of a positive for scopolamine, a byproduct of jimsonweed, after Justify tested for the drug after winning the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. The board followed their recommendation. When the CHRB also decided to run DNA tests on the horses blood samples, the records show Arthur said the request would be a big deal and asked if they could wait until after the Preakness, which was 10 days away. Baffert did not have another medication violation for eight years. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. Before his Kentucky Derby-winning colt, Medina Spirit, tested positive for betamethasone last month which could erase the victory his horses were cited for drug-related violations 29 times, according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI). This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. Theres a recognition that certain substances are normal in equine care, Martin said, but if that horse still requires that, then maybe you shouldnt run the horse., Martin made a distinction between doping horses with banned substances and running them with too much medication. Bob Baffert has taken up more of my time than I ever should have had to deal with, Arthur said, before again coming to the defense of Bafferts treatment of his horses: He certainly puts the pedal to the metal, but he doesnt close his eyes. 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. [39] California's equine medical director found that Baffert's horses were routinely given Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a thyroid hormone, that could cause heart problems during exercise, but concluded the medication, which Baffert said he had been using routinely for the previous five years, did not cause the heart attacks. Petersen noted that in a previous case the board had exonerated the trainers of three horses who had tested positive for scopolamine, finding the flunked tests were a result of Jimson weed. In the case of Bafferts recent horse deaths, the records list a typical blend of drugs that have been allowed under certain thresholds, most frequently the anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone (or bute to horsemen) and furosemide (also known as Lasix), which is said to decrease bleeding from a horses lungs. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. He acknowledged there was no way to determine if that bale was part of the delivery to Baffert, according to the records, but the CHRB investigator nonetheless submitted the sample for testing. One of the biggest assholes and cheats of all time, horse-racing With private eyes and political muscle, horse racings elite pushed to punish dopers, Bob Baffert, long horse racings irreverent king, sits on a precarious throne, Bob Baffert, banned from racing horses in New York, sues states racing association. I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.. Baffert, like many trainers, was using a thyroid drug that was cited in the CHRB investigation. Officials worked secretly to clear Bob Bafferts Justify amid 2018 Triple Crown run, records show. While he allowed that the case was handled differently because of the Triple Crown ramifications, the special treatment had nothing to do with the horses trainer. Bob Baffert: Hall of Fame trainer suspended from participating in - CNN Baffert faces unprecedented scrutiny after a positive drug test marred a win by his horse Medina Spirit at this years Kentucky Derby. EXPLAINER: Why is Bob Baffert not in the Kentucky Derby? - Spectrum News 1 The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. Bafferts record of testing failures threatens public confidence in thoroughbred racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby, said Bill Carstanjen, chief executive of Churchill Downs Inc. Given these repeated failures over the last year, including the increasingly extraordinary explanations, we firmly believe that asserting our rights to impose these measures is our duty and responsibility.. [42][44] A friend of Baffert's and an inductee into the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame, Adair died on Preakness Day, May 16, 2015, at 71. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. He won the aforementioned first race at a sanctioned track in 1970, but his mother insisted he attend college and he enrolled in the University of Arizonas Race Track Industry Program. The positive test only emerged when the New York Times reported it more than a year later. (At least one death of a Baffert horse identified by The Post was not included in the agencys data.) Petersen opined it would have been unfair to punish Baffert for what he called an oversight by CHRB staff and said there is no evidence to suggest a nefarious motive by the board. "We live in a different world now. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. Hes a very unique personality, a unique sense of humor. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. After Arthur cleared Baffert of wrongdoing, the legislation was abandoned. But that number may drop to six if the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission disqualifies this years winner, Medina Spirit, for a medication violation, the trainers fifth since May 2020. . Then, when American Pharoah won the 2015 Belmont Stakes, the win was the fourth attempt at a Triple Crown for Baffert, who at age 62 became the second-oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown.[6]. In a hearing in October, the state and attorneys for Baffert and the horses owners stipulated the scopolamine positive was the result of contamination and it would have no performance-enhancing effects. [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. Its truly painful when you know what the truth is, Baffert told The Times earlier this week in his first interview on the subject since May. [8] As of 1January2022[update] the question of whether the horse would join Dancer's Image by being disqualified for a drug violation in the Derby remains pending. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. Baffert won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. To me, whats in the best interest of the sport is not seeing anyone being dogpiled on.. After Baffert was notified a week following this years Kentucky Derby that the colts blood and urine sample contained 21 picograms, a trillionth of a gram, of betamethasone, he held a hastily called news conference outside his barn at Churchill Downs saying he had no idea how it could have gotten into the horses system. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. View . Carson Valley was killed in a freak accident in 2019 at Del Mar when a loose horse crashed into the Baffert trainee. Share on Facebook TWEET This He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. We live and work in a fishbowl, with rumors and accusations flowing constantly, Baffert said. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. Its more the friendship that I miss. April 29, 2022 9:00 AM. The CHRB had not adopted that recommendation. He built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. During a hearing, records show, Baffert argued the positive test could have been a result of his stable hands eating poppy seed bagels and muffins around the horse. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. 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. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. Medina Spirit: Bob Baffert again playing victim in drug controversy Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby. Baedeker said that before they made their recommendation to the board, they consulted with the states Office of the Attorney General, for which Petersen works, and received concurrence . Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. Ive heard the rumors on Bobby since we got in the business after winning some Cal Cup races. Baffert is America's pre-eminent active trainer. Baffert has had two fatalities in the last three years, a low number for a barn of his size. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. "[10], However, over 30 horses Baffert trained have failed drug tests. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. On the morning of this years Kentucky Derby, he was going through his list of past Kentucky Derby winners and should-have-been winners, and dismissed Medina Spirit as not the best horse in the race. Things would have been so much simpler if the horse had not won the race. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. Horse racing needs to cut off the head of the snake, Ruis said. Robertson blamed the frequency of Bafferts drug-related violations on how often his horses are tested after winning races and said, Horse racings regulations need to catch up with the sensitivity of modern day testing., Jockey Club President James L. Gagliano dismissed that frequent complaint from Baffert. On a recent afternoon, Baffert appeared largely unperturbed by the firestorm surrounding him when he answered his door in Arcadia, Calif. This is the first Ive learned of it, Baffert responded when told of The Posts finding that he had the highest rate of horse deaths among other top trainers in the state. Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified for a medication violation. Churchill Downs Draws a Hard Line With Bob Baffert 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." Hes won seven, more than anyone else in the 147-year history of the race. The Post reported this month that Arthur had previously studied a spate of sudden horse deaths in Bafferts barn. Closing everything and moving forward is in Bobs best interest and the best interest of horse racing. Maryland Racing Commission Officially Suspends Bob Baffert, [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. Wizards show plenty of heart early but cant find an edge late in Chicago. Bafferts lawyer called as a defense witness Arthur, who testified that his handling of the case was the fault of Californias cumbersome regulatory process. He declared, I considered this a horse poisoning, not a horse drugging., After the hearing, Santa Anitas Board of Stewards, a three-person panel that rules on drug cases, dismissed the complaints. He won his first race on that 1970 afternoon but not as a trainer. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. He has won the Kentucky Oaks three times: first in 1999 with Silverbulletday, who was later selected for the Hall of Fame, then with Plum Pretty in 2011 and with Abel Tasman in 2017. It wasnt long before Baffert was making pocket change riding the horses in match races. Hearing Officer Recommends 2-Year NYRA Ban for Bob Baffert He finished third in the Derby that year with Congaree. In his claustrophobic and cluttered office at Santa Anita Barn 5, Bob Baffert, the hall of fame trainer, was pushing papers and moving stacks, hunting for a faded photo of his 17-year-old self aboard a long-forgotten quarter horse from a small racing circuit in Arizona. Kaleem Shah, an owner who split with Baffert in 2016, defended the trainer over the horse deaths. California keeps track of horse deaths by trainer, but there are errors and limits to the data. The horse is scheduled to run Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. Horse trainer Bob Baffert before the 2020 Breeders Cup at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. Trainer Bob Baffert pets an outriders horse while watching workouts at Churchill Downs in April. Other people may have made a different decision, but to say that there was no basis for that decision is pure bulls---, said Arthur, who announced his retirement this year. But the scuttled test result remained secret until the New York Times reported it in 2019. This article was published more than1 year ago. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. Bob Baffert Family, Parents But by August, the plan had changed. His attorney, let me just say, worked very, very hard, recalled former California Deputy Attorney General Jerald L. Mosley, who represented the state in attempting to uphold the suspension. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. When he was 10, his father purchased some Quarter Horses and he practiced racing them on a dirt track. On at least 14 occasions, Baffert has been caught racing a horse with more than the allowable amount of bute in its system, according to a review of ARCI data, making it his most common offense. Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension The colt went on to win the Preakness Stakes, giving the trainer his third shot at winning the Triple Crown. Board member Michael E. Pegram had for decades hired Baffert to train his top horses, including the winner of the 1998 Kentucky Derby, Real Quiet. It subsequently said any horses running for a suspended trainer (Baffert) would not be eligible for Kentucky Derby or Oaks qualifying points. Obviously if we can get the Kentucky case resolved, Arkansas will have the benefit of knowing that result before a final decision is made in that case. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. One of his grooms, Clemintino Abrego Garcia, testified that Baffert called him three or four times attempting to get him to admit that he had eaten baked goods near the horse. Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. Thats the only time I ever had to deal with somebody who tried to go to federal court to stop a state administrative action., Finally, in 2005, after the matter had returned to state court, the CHRB dismissed the suspension after an administrative law judge concluded Baffert had nothing to gain and a great deal to lose by the use of a banned substance on this horse., Baffert further solidified his influence in the ensuing years. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. Per Baffert, barn staff including grooms, were involved in administering the thyroxine in feed.. Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by Mike Pegram, to win the Preakness Stakes in 2010. In 2012, Baffert saddled Bodemeister, named for the trainer's youngest son, Bode, to second-place finishes in the Derby and Preakness. 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. (A CHRB spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Bob Baffert wins big in return from long suspension - Spectrum News 1 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. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. May 10, 2021. The trainer was Baffert. [43] At the post-Belmont press conference, Baffert announced he and his wife would be making donations of $50,000 each to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), and Old Friends Equine, all programs for retired race horses; and to the Permanently Disabled Jockey's Fund in memory of a Quarter Horse Jockey named Robert Z. You wouldnt know it now.. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. There were at least 39 trainers with more fatalities to their name than Baffert during that period. Without that win, Justify would not have qualified to run in the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, a month later. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Gray's . The last stand of Bob Baffert, horse racing's top trainer - Los Angeles followed up and ruled Baffert would not be allowed to run in New York. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. 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 . Baffert's history in the American classic races began in 1996 when he trained a three-year-old colt named Cavonnier, who ran second in the Kentucky Derby. Please answer some questions in this short survey about professional soccer and the 2022 Men's FIFA World Cup. The dark side of Bob Baffert's reign - Washington Post In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. Hearings begin for Bob Baffert's case against Churchill Downs ban Trump: Kentucky Derby Controversy 'Emblematic of What Is - Newsmax On July 15, 2020, Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen sent his initial case assessment to Brodnik. Bob Baffert has supporters and detractors in how he deals with jockeys By John Cherwa Special Contributor Nov. 2, 2016 4:28 PM PT Bob Baffert, still fresh and snappy after hours of morning. The 77-year-old billionaire made headlines last year when he made a $10,000 contribution to opponents of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. Its all because of his success.. He rejoined The Times in 2009 and left his post as deputy sports editor late in 2017. Nine died in 2000, all but one from breakdowns. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. to move forward. Petersen did not respond to an interview request. Baffert was inducted into Lone Star Park's Hall of Fame in 2007, and in 2009, he was nominated and inducted to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, the same year as a filly he trained, Silverbulletday. Currently, his major coverage area is horse racing, where he can be found at big races at Santa Anita, the Triple Crown series and Breeders Cup. The way this case was handled was out of respect for Justify., On the afternoon of April 18, 2018, Arthur learned that Justify and another Baffert horse, Hoppertunity, had tested positive for scopolamine. Yeah, sure, hes a wiseass and irreverent. Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. He has often blamed drug positives on trace contamination from substances in a horses barn and has criticized tightening restrictions on the race-day use of bute and other drugs. At least 74 horses have died in Bafferts care in his home state of California since 2000, more than all but two of hundreds of trainers in the state, according to a Post analysis of data and public records. Two months after Arthur cleared Baffert, the legislation to limit his term died. But Arthurs report said Hollywood Park used a different sort of poison than that found in the necropsy.
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