Hes won seven, more than anyone else in the 147-year history of the race. All of the explanations for the positive drug tests are plausible, but collectively they raise questions. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. Baffert won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. Both trainers were fined $500. Baffert has had two fatalities in the last three years, a low number for a barn of his size. 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." Time after time its not his fault. As the trainer battles to protect his legacy, the records offer a new window into how those charged with running horse racings disjointed regulatory system have appeared to treat the powerful trainer with deference. He married his second wife, Jill, a former television reporter based in Louisville, in 2002. Kaleem Shah, an owner who split with Baffert in 2016, defended the trainer over the horse deaths. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. [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. The owners ultimately abandoned the plan after Bafferts horse, American Pharoah, won the Triple Crown that year, fearing their effort could damage the sport, one of those people said. 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 . 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. In a written decision, the stewards stated the CHRB has already ruled on this matter in its August 2018 closed hearing and had followed the law., However, the stewards suggested they would not have made the same decision as the CHRB: It is the Stewards opinion that had this Board of Stewards heard the Justify and Hoppertunity complaints prior to August 23, 2018 both horses would have been disqualified., Ruiss lawyers have since argued in court for the settlement to be rescinded because the stewards refused to make a decision on the merits., I remain convinced that justice has not yet been served, Vienna told The Post, and that hopefully the courts will resolve the matter., The rise and fall of Jorge Navarro, the alleged doping king of horse racing. FILE - Trainer Bob Baffert walks out to the winner's circle after the Brooklyn Invitational Stakes horse race at Belmont Park, Saturday, June 9, 2018, in Elmont, N.Y. . He got his first big break in 1992 when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews. Shah said the two parted over disagreements that should have been resolved, without being specific. At the time, she was 42-years-old. Similarly, cases against two horses who tested positive in Arkansas in 2020 for lidocaine were dismissed as being the result of accidental transfer from an assistant trainer who was using the medication on himself. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. At first it was believed the substance came from a pain-relief patch that Bafferts longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes was wearing because of back pain. 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. (The trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. And Noodles died May 22 of a non-exercise induced respiratory issue. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Churchill Downs goes after suspended trainer Bob Baffert with new policy. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. A complaint is filed in every case where the split sample confirms the original laboratory finding, read an advisory on the CHRB website. He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. [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. The CHRB provided The Post with death data dating back to late 1990 showing that at least 87 of Bafferts horses have died in California since then. Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby. The CHRB ruled it was caused by feed contamination, citing six other horses across four barns who also tested positive. California keeps track of horse deaths by trainer, but there are errors and limits to the data. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. In February 2013, with Bafferts Hollywood Park sudden-death toll at six and Californias equine medical director, Rick Arthur, probing his barns operations, state legislation was introduced that would place term limits on Arthurs position, eventually forcing him out of a $309,000-a-year job. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. In 2013 the group hosted a Lasix-focused event at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills at which one owner reportedly said running a race without the drug was like waterboarding your horse in their own blood.. A CHRB investigator, searching for Jimson weed, had found a leafy substance at Santa Anita Park, the records show, and following the Derby, Arthur and the CHRBs lawyer agreed to have it tested. And Ive warned them that this was not going to stay a secret at the time, he testified of the CHRB, but that was their decision, not mine. (Baedeker, who retired last year, told The Post they couldnt legally disclose the test results because CHRB did not file a complaint.). And he pushes the envelope to the extent that they give their lives for his bank account.. But hes Bob, he has to speak his mind.. The rise and fall of Jorge Navarro, the alleged doping king of horse racing. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. 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. But the star trainers sudden support belied the fact that Baffert has for years been entangled with the very problems he blamed for his sports potential demise: drugs, dead horses and a feckless regulatory system. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. In the court of public opinion, hes a big loser, said Barry Irwin, owner of racing group Team Valor and an outspoken critic of race-day medication and Baffert. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. April 29, 2022 9:00 AM. Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. He tried his hand at substitute teaching before he started training horses full time. Despite the cautious approach of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which five months later still has not acted on the drug positive, or disqualified, Medina Spirit, Churchill Downs suspended the trainer for two years. There wasnt any question in my mind, he said recently. On June 1, Baedeker had asked the agencys top lawyer and investigator how close they were to filing the Scopolamine complaints., On July 9, a month after Justifys Belmont triumph, the agencys chief counsel, Robert Brodnik, wrote to the CHRB investigator that they would like to officially file by Monday.. 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. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. 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.. Following the publication of the report, Baffert tweeted: Im gratified that CHRB completed its investigation & found there was no wrongdoing. [10][12] However, his violations for use of prohibited medications has sparked controversy. Mr. Its so obvious. Arthur B. Hancock III, a prominent thoroughbred owner, has for three decades been a leading proponent for eradicating drugs from the sport. He told reporters that he would fight the issue "tooth and nail. Arthur also presented exercise histories for the horses that showed they worked harder than average. Kentucky regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert after Medina Spirit test. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. 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. In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. No sanctions were issued against Baffert.[40][41]. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. In 2000, for instance, another of his horses, Nautical Look, tested positive for morphine, landing Baffert a two-month suspension. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. Medina Spirit died after a training session on 6 December 2021 and an ensuing necropsy on 11 February 2022 was inconclusive. May 10, 2021. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. 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 . Santa Anitas 16-day fall season begins Friday with 14 stakes races over three days as trainers and owners take aim at the Breeders Cup at Del Mar. Bob Baffert Family, Parents Nothing is held back.. Baffert did not have a horse hit the board again in any of the Triple Crown races until 2009, when he trained Pioneerof The Nile to a second-place finish in the Derby. Baffert is a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and has several top prospects for the May 5 race. Baffert told investigators he used the drug for about five years to build up his horses, which Arthur noted was unusual because it was typically used to slim them down. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. If the complaint was ruled on quickly enough, it would have made Justify ineligible for the Kentucky Derby. This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. When a horse dies in California, CHRB records often list medications the horse had been prescribed, based on its medical history. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Baffert wrote that reforming racing was not just necessary to the sports survival but the only moral path forward. Its all right there in black and white; thats all I can say., ARCI President Ed Martin said the rules limiting race-day medications have been tightened not out of concern for performance enhancement but to prevent breakdowns. You could trust him and that never changed.. The public backlash, including a letter written by a gay. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. By Marty Irby. 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 horse's. His primary attorney is Craig Robertson, who represents him in all regulatory matters, but he has recused himself from any action against Churchill Downs because his law firm does business with the company, creating a conflict of interest. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. Other trainers seem to navigate just fine.. There is nothing new here, he wrote. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. Hes a very unique personality, a unique sense of humor. But in this case, Arthur urged a lighter penalty based on his suggestion the CHRB downgrade the drug. This was fun. But by August, the plan had changed. 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. To me, whats in the best interest of the sport is not seeing anyone being dogpiled on.. Hollendorfers lawyer, Drew Couto, has claimed his client is being unfairly blamed for a high-profile spike of deaths at the track. The Post separately obtained start data dating back to 2000 from the Daily Racing Form to put the deaths into context. Its not often that a sport turns against its biggest star, but Churchill Downs has taken that stand. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. In more than four decades in the sport, Baffert has faced significant regulatory scrutiny because of a high death rate only once, after seven of his horses collapsed in a short period of time at the same California track. 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. Baffert also has wielded unmatched clout when regulators have discovered banned or excessive substances in his horses. He has not been in alliance with us, said Hancock, mentioning Bafferts many positive tests and then listing top trainers who have had one or zero positives in their career. His white hair, tinted glasses and accessibility make him a natural to promote the sport. Some of the earlier violations do give you pause. 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. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. There were at least 39 trainers with more fatalities to their name than Baffert during that period. The first two infractions occurred in May 2020, when the horses Charlatan and Gamine tested positive in Arkansas for lidocaine, a numbing agent. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. 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. His last day as medical equine director is Wednesday. Tinsley declined to comment. He will rub people the wrong way by speaking his mind, sometimes he needs to hit the mute button. My focus will always be on the best care for my horses. Shah, the owner of at least three of the horses, told The Post he had fully trusted Baffert as a trainer and had no reason to suspect that he would harm the horses he loves the horses. Brewster, the attorney, said that Baffert believed the horses had ingested rat poison, traces of which were found in one of them. 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. In April, after Arkansas reversed its decision on two Baffert horses and overturned his suspension, trainer Richard Baltas was bad-mouthing Baffert at Clockers Corner, the place where trainers and fans watch horses work in the morning at Santa Anita. His most serious infraction was also his first. On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. A A Former President Donald Trump released a statement Sunday about the disputed winner of the Kentucky Derby, saying the controversy reflects the current state of the country. 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. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. But the scuttled test result remained secret until the New York Times reported it in 2019. State investigators found that his staff was mixing a potentially dangerous prescription drug into the feed of every horse in his care. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. It hurts racing., In the same speech, Baffert agitated for the continued use of Lasix, which is popular with trainers but increasingly criticized as a potential performance-enhancer and masking agent for other drugs. 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. And in the 13 months following his essay in The Post, Bafferts horses tested positive for prohibited or excessive substances five times in three states. After Arthur cleared Baffert of wrongdoing, the legislation was abandoned. Wizards show plenty of heart early but cant find an edge late in Chicago. Thats much higher than the Jockey Clubs widely cited national rates, which never exceed two deaths per 1,000 starts. In winning the 141st Kentucky Derby, bringing his total number of victories in the race to four; Baffert also ran the third-place finisher, the previously undefeated colt Dortmund. At one point, the regulators effort included searching for exonerating evidence in a literal haystack. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. Per Baffert, barn staff including grooms, were involved in administering the thyroxine in feed.. I thought wed get fourth. [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. I went under the radar. In 2010, Misremembered, a horse he bred, owned by his wife Jill and their friend George Jacobs, won the Santa Anita Handicap, marking Baffert's first Grade I win as a breeder instead of a trainer. 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. By then, Arthur already had a years-long, tangled history with Baffert. Baffert was fined $10,000. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. I told him there would be nothing from CHRB before the KY Derby, unlikely before the Preakness and possibly not until after the Belmont, Arthur wrote. 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. In 1977, as a part-time trainer, he was suspended for a year when one of his horses tested positive for morphine.
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