See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. On July 15, 2020, Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen sent his initial case assessment to Brodnik. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. Arthur is the CHRBs primary advisor on drug testing, according to state code; the role of determining penalties in individual cases falls to its stewards and commissioners. This article was published more than1 year ago. Bob Baffert Sues New York Racing Association, You've Got No Basis To Some of the horses that have died have been my horses, and on each and every instance, I have spoken to Bob and Ive been more than satisfied with the explanation, Shah said. This in turn led to a ban from all California Horse Racing Board facilities beginning April 4 due to a rule removing any trainer under a 60 day or higher ban from all CHRB facilities. Celebrities Who Are Republicans/Conservatives - HubPages Shah said the two parted over disagreements that should have been resolved, without being specific. Arthur suggested the board retroactively apply it to the Justify case. 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. Bob Baffert suspended from home of Kentucky Derby after Medina - CNN View . Arthur B. Hancock III, a prominent thoroughbred owner, has for three decades been a leading proponent for eradicating drugs from the sport. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. Without that win, Justify would not have qualified to run in the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, a month later. Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension was. Regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert - Los Angeles Times 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. 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. Fellow trainer D. Wayne Lukas attributed Baffert's success to his "extraordinary eye for a good horse" and his management ability in finding the right opportunities for his charges.[5]. (A CHRB spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Share on Facebook TWEET This I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. By Marty Irby. Asked whether he was surprised by the finding that Bafferts barn was the deadliest in California, Roberts laughed. This time, he aided the CHRBs search for Jimson weed. It wasnt long before Baffert was making pocket change riding the horses in match races. Does his love of the camera sometimes bite him? asked longtime owner and friend Mike Pegram. By then, Bafferts encounters with regulators dated back decades, to 1977, when he served a yearlong suspension for racing a horse on morphine. Decorated racehorse trainer who won multiple Kentucky Derbies, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. His white hair, tinted glasses and accessibility make him a natural to promote the sport. 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. 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 . [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. In 2021, the post-race test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit showed 21pg/mL of betamethasone. In 1977, as a part-time trainer, he was suspended for a year when one of his horses tested positive for morphine. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. The trainer was fined $2,500. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. 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. Yeah, sure, hes a wiseass and irreverent. By the April 1 ruling, Baffert had already transferred four 3-year-old colts to other trainers. Baffert's disgrace could help turn racing to better future | Lexington 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. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. The deadliest period came between 2000 and 2005, when 34 of Bafferts horses in California died. (The trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) The bottom line, he said, is if youre a horse in Bob Bafferts barn, youre there to work.. Unlike a normal day at the races, Bafferts fate will not be decided by a photo-finish camera or the actions of a jockey aboard a 1,000-pound animal. Brewster alleged, without providing evidence, that the Jockey Club directed 5 Stones to investigate anybody who doesnt train for them and wins a lot of races and might run in racetracks they dont run at., You know what the conclusion was? Brewster said of the alleged private investigation into Baffert. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. CHRB regulations state that its foreign substances guidelines are based on ARCI recommendations as modified by the state board. Has his success made people hate him more? "[29][30] On September 10, 2021 Baffert was charged by NYRA for conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. Baffert faces unprecedented scrutiny after a positive drug test marred a win by his horse Medina Spirit at this years Kentucky Derby. The first two infractions occurred in May 2020, when the horses Charlatan and Gamine tested positive in Arkansas for lidocaine, a numbing agent. 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. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. [42] He had been paid $200,000 to allow the Burger King to stand behind him in the grandstand during the televised broadcast of the Belmont, after having turned down $150,000 to allow the mascot to appear with him at the Preakness. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. "Bobby" Adair. The timing of the legislation was coincidental, he added: I understand where youre going and why, but there were no connections, from my perspective., Brewster, attorney for Medina Spirits owner, also said that Bafferts issue with Arthur was about Lasix and that the timing was irrelevant.. 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. The way this case was handled was not a favor for Bob Baffert, Arthur said. [citation needed], According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. 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. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our equine and human athletes, Baffert wrote, and nothing impacts their health and safety more than the policies and procedures concerning drugs.. 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. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. He followed it with six more Derbies, two of which launched Triple Crown runs, with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. 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. Once again, the Hall of Fame. Teflon."[11]. 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. 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. Closing everything and moving forward is in Bobs best interest and the best interest of horse racing. 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 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. Baffert is America's pre-eminent active trainer. Arthur called Bafferts blanket use of thyroxine troublesome and said at the meeting, I havent found an example of a barn that uses it in all their horses like Baffert does. Yet he determined that the drug wasnt to blame for the deaths. Bob Baffert - Bio, News, Photos - Washington Times 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. The. Nothing is held back.. The Baffert who snubbed me on April 29, 2010, that is the real Bob Baffert, not the glib, seemingly affable chap heretofore seen in TV interviews. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. 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. The goal, the people familiar said, was to get Baffert to support languishing reforms in the sport. 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. Hal Earnhardt, an Arizona car dealer and Bafferts oldest client, introduced him to Pegram, who made his money in fast-food franchising. Baffert is a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and has several top prospects for the May 5 race. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. 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. Trainer Bob Baffert stands outside his barn at Churchill Downs on May 2, 2016, in Louisville, Ky. Medina . The attorney generals office referred all questions to the CHRB. Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. Wizards show plenty of heart early but cant find an edge late in Chicago. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. 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. In New York, chefs are redefining it. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. Now 68, Baffert is seeing his livelihood and reputation under attack after a series of medication infractions have made him an outcast to some in the industry and a pariah to many more outside of it. This included Baffert's home track at Santa Anita, although Baffert horse Shaaz won the sixth race on April 2. According to protocols, the medication is supposed to have a 14-day withdrawal period. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. As The Post reported in April, the Jockey Club, an industry group of top thoroughbred owners, then hired the same private agency, 5 Stones Intelligence, to probe suspected dopers. But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. He's saddled. In 2015, the Daily Herald ran a profile on Jill Baffert, explaining that she was a former journalist and waitress from Centerville. But even in those cases, which were handled according to established rules, the horses were disqualified and their winning purses were forfeited. 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). Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified for a medication violation. You could trust him and that never changed.. Baffert, like many trainers, was using a thyroid drug that was cited in the CHRB investigation. 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. It seems the biggest problem trainer Bob Baffert had during the running of the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday was keeping his face covering over his nose. They had a son in 2004 whom they named "Bode" (/bodi/ BOH-dee), after skier Bode Miller. How carefully the dosage was followed was not determined, Arthur wrote. Gagliano, the Jockey Club president, denied that the group had any knowledge of whom 5 Stones investigated, outside of the eventual indictments. 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 . The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc . 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. 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. According to Arthurs report, he found that Baffert was dispensing Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a prescription thyroid hormone, to all horses in his care. That didnt feel appropriate to those of who wanted to see science prevail, Cardoza said. In the next six months, three of his horses tested positive for banned or excessive substances four times in California, Arkansas and Kentucky. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. 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. Either way, the state-appointed official probing Bafferts role in the deaths at Hollywood Park did so as his job was being threatened by the efforts of a Baffert-affiliated coalition. On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. As the Kentucky Derby approached, officials began discussing the possibility of contamination that the positive test had been triggered by something Justify ingested. Baffert was suspended by the NYRA on May 17 -- a big deal as it barred the legendary horse trainer from entering into the prestigious June 5 Belmont Stakes race. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. When The Post shared the data on 72 of the horse deaths with Brewster, he and Bafferts lawyer, W. Craig Robertson III, said that one of the horses listed was never in Bafferts care, though it is marked as his horse in CHRB records, and that another was a stable pony not being raced. Being a horse trainer is tough enough because its such an up-and-down, emotional roller coaster, Baffert said. The positive test only emerged when the New York Times reported it more than a year later. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Churchill Downs goes after suspended trainer Bob Baffert with new policy. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. Baedeker said this week he changed his mind on not filing a complaint, which would have put the matter before CHRBs Board of Stewards, because he didnt want to pass the buck. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. Rick Baedeker, who was executive director of the CHRB before retiring last year, said the boards decisions were carefully considered to avoid treating Baffert differently than any other trainer. With Time Running Out In Legal Wars, Bob Baffert Says Four Of His He's a cheat and an asshole, and I hope Medina Spirit gets taken down and his connections are denied the $1.8 million first-place check. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. 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. Two Triple Crown winners and a signature shock of white hair will do that for a man. Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. And he pushes the envelope to the extent that they give their lives for his bank account.. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. This was fun. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. Yeah, but thats what drives him. May 10, 2021. The Post reported this month that Arthur had previously studied a spate of sudden horse deaths in Bafferts barn. Another person who came to Bafferts defense was his former assistant Tim Yakteen, who now runs his own stable. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. When asked about that plan, attorney Brewster said that in fact 5 Stones did investigate Baffert at the direction of the Jockey Club. 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.. It went exactly according to the lawyers plan. Baffert said the horse was off the drug for 18 days before the race. 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. 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.. 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]. Trump: Kentucky Derby Controversy 'Emblematic of What Is - Newsmax Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. 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. Brodnik presented the board with a two-page memo stating an extensive investigation was conducted and the evidence proves that this was an environmental contamination incident. Baedeker and Arthur recommended the pending matters against Baffert be dismissed, according to the states legal analysis. Scopolamine, Baedeker wrote, can be injected but very often is the result of feed or straw that has been contaminated with Jimson weed., Arthur had previously suggested he didnt consider Jimson weed contamination to be a serious threat, writing in a 2016 memo that the likelihood under our current procedures of getting a positive from environmental contamination is rather low. In an interview this week, Arthur said he meant that such incidences were infrequent but said that in California, if you have a scopolamine positive, its going to be associated with Jimson weed thats just the reality of it., On April 26, records show, Arthur emailed CHRB officials that he had talked to Bob and informed him the proceedings would not immediately interfere with Justifys Triple Crown schedule. In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. Its all because of his success.. There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isnt even done yet. In 1997, he trained Silver Charm to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont. Arthur, the equine medical director, took issue with Petersens legal finding that the CHRBs handling of the case could be declared arbitrary or capricious. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) A federal judge denied Bob Baffert's request to lift his two-year suspension by Churchill Downs Inc., ruling Friday that the Hall of Fame trainer did not prove its. He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. Hes good.. It was later discovered that horses from separate barns had also tested positive. We might have gone to the board sooner, but obviously because of the high-profile nature of this thing we were making sure we had everything buttoned up, he said. In a recent interview, Arthur described his findings as damning for Baffert, in particular analysis in his report showing that, over a six-year period, Bafferts horses were nine times more likely to die of sudden death than the average trainers. There is nothing new here, he wrote. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. [19][20] On May 11, Baffert stated Medina Spirit had dermatitis, for which an ointment containing betamethasone was used.
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