This time, he aided the CHRBs search for Jimson weed. Tinsley declined to comment. In 1997 he won his first Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm. 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. 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.. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. 'It was cancel culture': Kentucky Derby winner's trainer defends failed But the sports new governing authority will not take over until mid-2022. 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. No horse loving person like Bob or his entire team accepts the reality of a horse death with anything other than sadness and despair, the lawyers said in their statement. 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 was granted a stay until April 4 to gain time for an appeal. was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. Its just disheartening. In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by Mike Pegram, to win the Preakness Stakes in 2010. 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. [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. [8] His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphene, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years. Every investigation over the past 20 years has reached the same conclusion: no rules or regulations have been violated nor has there been any improper activity on Bobs part., Brewster also said that the vast majority of Bafferts drug-related violations, as tracked by ARCI, shouldnt be counted because they were too old or related to overages of otherwise-allowed drugs in a horse, which he dismissed as like coming to work with too much Advil in your system., Robertson said in an e-mail that [n]o one has done more for horse racing and is better for the sport than Bob Baffert, and he listed various awards the trainer has received, including being inducted into four separate Hall of Fames. Baffert is known for holding court on such ideas at Clockers Corner, a popular hangout for horsemen at Santa Anita Park. 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. In raw numbers, most of Baffert's medication violations were for exceeding allowed amounts of authorized medications such as phenylbutazone, a pain medication commonly administered to horses. On July 15, 2020, Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen sent his initial case assessment to Brodnik. Ive heard the rumors on Bobby since we got in the business after winning some Cal Cup races. The quest to find Jimson weed continued. Teflon."[11]. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. Baffert is America's pre-eminent active trainer. 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. Settlement reached over unauthorized Bob Baffert bourbon - The That didnt feel appropriate to those of who wanted to see science prevail, Cardoza said. 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. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. That investigation led to the indictments that Baffert said spurred him to embrace more oversight, so the cheaters would be quickly caught and punished.. FILE - In this Monday July 12, 2021 file photo, horse trainer Bob Baffert leaves federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Betamethasone is mostly injected into the joints of horses to ease inflammation and, if the inflammation is reduced, any associated pain subsides. "So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky," Trump's statement read. It elicited little notice; racehorses die by the hundreds per year in California alone. Horse-racing deaths, like much of the sport, are shrouded by a disjointed bureaucracy. By then, Arthur already had a years-long, tangled history with Baffert. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. It was an easy suspension to serve as Baffert was in school and not doing much training. When asked about that plan, attorney Brewster said that in fact 5 Stones did investigate Baffert at the direction of the Jockey Club. He got his first big break in 1992 when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews. "What a way to come back," said Baffert, whose punishment by the Kentucky Horse . In the past three years, there were 188 deaths involving either racing or training in California. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. When he was 10, his father purchased some Quarter Horses and he practiced racing them on a dirt track. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. The CHRB officially opened an investigation. A complaint is filed in every case where the split sample confirms the original laboratory finding, read an advisory on the CHRB website. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. Both trainers were fined $500. Bob Baffert says Medina Spirit a victim of cancel culture | Lexington Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. Bob Baffert has supporters and detractors in how he deals with jockeys Usually, regulatory agencies do not have the guts to do whats fair and right, Arthur testified during a CHRB hearing in October, and this board made that decision appropriately., He conceded that the lack of transparency was unusual. Does his love of the camera sometimes bite him? asked longtime owner and friend Mike Pegram. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. Political Cartoons. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. 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. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. Its so obvious. Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. Nothing is held back.. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. Attorneys for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert argued in a Kentucky court Thursday that a 90-day suspension imposed by the state's racing commission would essentially end his career. Officials worked secretly to clear Bob Bafferts Justify amid 2018 Triple Crown run, records show. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. EXPLAINER: Why is Bob Baffert not in the Kentucky Derby? - Spectrum News 1 Bob Baffert - Bio, News, Photos - Washington Times On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. And the Breeders Cup, which will be held Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar, has indicated it will soon make a decision on Bafferts eligibility to run in those championship races. Yeah, sure, hes a wiseass and irreverent. 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.. To me, whats in the best interest of the sport is not seeing anyone being dogpiled on.. To the newspaper, she. But hes a good person, no, a great person. 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. 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. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. In New York, chefs are redefining it. 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. Once again, the Hall of Fame. The TOC, of which Baffert is still a board member, did not respond to requests for comment. 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. Were going to get through it.. After winning the Santa Anita Derby in April of that year, Bafferts Justify tested positive for scopolamine, a banned substance, which normally would have disqualified the victory and made the horse ineligible to run in that years Kentucky Derby. This pattern has bred frustration among some horsemen. 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. In September, Baffert learned via a text message from Barbara Borden, chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, that his horse Gamine had tested positive for the anti-inflammatory betamethasone at the Kentucky Oaks. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks . In each instance, the death is investigated. 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. 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. He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. 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 also trained the 2018 Triple Crown Winner, Justify and the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic. Bob Baffert wins big in return from long suspension - Spectrum News 1 He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. 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. He paused, then added: Ive learned who my friends are.. (A CHRB spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. In 2007, he joined the 15-member board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), a nonprofit that represents the roughly 9,000 CHRB-licensed owners in the state. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. The. 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. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. On June 2, with the Belmont Stakes a week away, the owner of a feed operation showed up at the CHRB office carrying plant samples he said he found more than a month earlier, the records show. According to protocols, the medication is supposed to have a 14-day withdrawal period. Baffert made the. In 2015, a loose group of prominent thoroughbred owners hatched a plan according to people with direct knowledge of it to sic private eyes, from a firm called 5 Stones that helped bring down Russian dopers, on their sports most famous trainer. 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. Baffert says he plans to seek legal recourse wherever necessary. 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. Bob Baffert: Judge denies his request to lift two-year Churchill Downs 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. The 5-year-old mare was the seventh seemingly healthy horse from that barn to drop dead in 16 months. Yeah, but thats what drives him. 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's horses have won seven Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes and three Kentucky Oaks. 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. Attorneys argue 90-day suspension would end Bob Baffert's racing career Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. 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. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. 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.. 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. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. 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. Thats much higher than the Jockey Clubs widely cited national rates, which never exceed two deaths per 1,000 starts. Baffert won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.. Bell told an investigator he then checked other bales and found a branch and pods he thought were Jimson weed in the parking lot. The trainer was fined $2,500. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. 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. The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. Arthur indicated in his report that thyroxine was suspected to cause heart problems for horses during exercise, and at least four of the sudden deaths involved confirmed or suspected cardiac failure. In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. [35], The most notable cases prior to Medina Spirit's test was the disqualification of Gamine after a third place finish in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, also for betamethasone,[36] and Triple Crown winner Justify, who tested positive for scopolamine after winning the 2018 Santa Anita Derby, but the results did not become public until after the horse won the Triple Crown. Biography Bob Baffert is best known as a horse rider. 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. I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. 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 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 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 . A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. It was later discovered that horses from separate barns had also tested positive. The attorney generals office referred all questions to the CHRB. ), Among the TOCs central crusades was countering the movement against Lasix. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. A 4/C violation meant minor punishment that wouldnt typically involve disqualifying the horse or redistributing winnings. Baffert faces unprecedented scrutiny after a positive drug test marred a win by his horse Medina Spirit at this years Kentucky Derby. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. He still has a responsibility as the face of the game but I dont think hell overcome [this] because his personality wont allow him to do it.. The consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out. Two Triple Crown winners and a signature shock of white hair will do that for a man. Wizards show plenty of heart early but cant find an edge late in Chicago. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . Bob Baffert Sues New York Racing Association, You've Got No Basis To The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. The drug was again betamethasone, and Baffert again expressed shock and vowed to clear his name. The Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Trainer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2015, Baffert has won 18 Breeders' Cup races, including four editions of the Classic with . It was then that Baffert, one of the most accessible trainers in horse racing, stopped talking until this week. Shortly after Petersen sent the analysis of the states chances, the CHRB agreed to settle Ruiss lawsuit. Trainer Bob Baffert has heart attack in Dubai - CBS News It wasn't long after the running of the 123rd Kentucky Derby, where a grey . Early life and career [ edit] In 1977, as a part-time trainer, he was suspended for a year when one of his horses tested positive for morphine. Judge Denies Baffert Request to Reverse Churchill Downs Ban Hospital food is a punchline. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. 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. (The trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) "[23] On June 2, 2021, Medina Spirit's split sample also tested positive and Churchill Downs suspended Baffert through the end of the 2023 Spring Meet. I believe there is some precedent in criminal law when a law is changed from a felony to a misdemeanor how they should be prosecuted even before the new law becomes effective, wrote Arthur, whose job before medical equine director was as a racetrack veterinarian. 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. One of the biggest assholes and cheats of all time, horse-racing In the next six months, three of his horses tested positive for banned or excessive substances four times in California, Arkansas and Kentucky. In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. (At least one death of a Baffert horse identified by The Post was not included in the agencys data.) 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. 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. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said.
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