Gary Fenton, chairman of the TOC, declined to be interviewed. [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. 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. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. As he did so, a political group with Baffert on its board was involved in legislation that would result in Arthur losing his job. 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. John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. Medina Spirit had a legal medication in him, ONeill said. 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.. [citation needed], According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOC's political action committee, California records show. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. The average death rate for racehorses in California, according to an analysis of more than 5,000 deaths since 2000, is 7.2 per 1,000 starts. . Arthur also presented exercise histories for the horses that showed they worked harder than average. If they didnt adopt those rules, the rules that prevail are the ones they adopted.. [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. His graded stakes wins include nine wins in the Santa Anita Derby, nine in the Haskell Invitational Handicap, and fourteen in the Del Mar Futurity, a race he won seven straight times from 1996 to 2002, when it was a Grade II event. As the Kentucky Derby approached, officials began discussing the possibility of contamination that the positive test had been triggered by something Justify ingested. Justify tested positive for scopolamine, an anti-nausea medication said to have potential performance-enhancing effects in horses, after winning the Santa Anita Derby in April 2018. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. To me, whats in the best interest of the sport is not seeing anyone being dogpiled on.. None of them are considered performance-enhancing in the traditional sense, such as amphetamines or speedballs. Other trainers seem to navigate just fine.. The horse is scheduled to run Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. But Bafferts critics say his conduct after penning the article calls into question his seriousness about reform. Bob Baffert suspended from home of Kentucky Derby after Medina - CNN And Noodles died May 22 of a non-exercise induced respiratory issue. Baffert grew up on a cattle and chicken farm in Nogales, Ariz., near the Mexico border. Cardoza, who now works for a law firm, denied in an interview last month that the TOC was involved: Not at all. But he then said, TOCs involvement in that bill had nothing to do with Bob Baffert., Instead, Cardoza said, the drive to oust Arthur was over his opposition to Lasix. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. He told reporters that he would fight the issue "tooth and nail. This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. Bob Baffert - Bio, News, Photos - Washington Times The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert parlayed a hobby as a 5-foot-9 jockey into a job as a quarter-horse conditioner into a career as a thoroughbred trainer before jumping onto the highest pedestal of horse racing and becoming the most recognizable name in the sport. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. Baffert is known for holding court on such ideas at Clockers Corner, a popular hangout for horsemen at Santa Anita Park. The bill was introduced by California Assemblyman Adam Gray, a former aide to Cardoza who had been in office for less than three months. Earlier data was unreliable, the racing publication said. After the Times broke the news of the positive drug test, Ruis sued the CHRB in January 2020. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. A three-member hearing panel has made the decision to suspend Hall of Fame horse trainer Bob Baffert for one year, effective immediately, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. The CHRB ruled it was caused by feed contamination, citing six other horses across four barns who also tested positive. [10][12] However, his violations for use of prohibited medications has sparked controversy. A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. It bothers me when hes not considered the Kentucky Derby winner.. On July 15, 2020, Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen sent his initial case assessment to Brodnik. Baffert said the horse ingested hay after a groom, who was taking cough medicine, had urinated in the horses stall. Baffert also has wielded unmatched clout when regulators have discovered banned or excessive substances in his horses. May 10, 2021. 10, 2022. He has also won the Preakness Stakes five times and the Belmont Stakes once. It takes only a minute or so to walk from the racetrack at Santa Anita Park to the barns in back. Does his love of the camera sometimes bite him? asked longtime owner and friend Mike Pegram. It didnt take Baffert long to dominate Rillito Park and Prescott Downs in Arizona. He started at The Times in 1980 and left in 1995 to be sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Co. sports coordinator in 2002. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. 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. Mick Ruis, who trained against Baffert for a couple years but now just manages his own racing business, once admired Baffert and his success, but no longer. Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. [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. This article was published more than1 year ago, LOS ANGELES In March 2020, horse racings most recognizable figure, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, declared that his sport was in crisis.. 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. Its more the friendship that I miss. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. ), Among the TOCs central crusades was countering the movement against Lasix. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. Nothing is held back.. The veterinarian chalked up Bafferts response to ignorance. 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. 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. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. Please answer some questions in this short survey about professional soccer and the 2022 Men's FIFA World Cup. With Time Running Out In Legal Wars, Bob Baffert Says Four Of His Baffert has saddled 34 horses in the Derby third-most in history since his first appearance in 1996. 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. Arthur is retiring at the end of June from a job often consumed by the scandals of a single trainer. to move forward. Petersen did not respond to an interview request. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. 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. Horse-racing deaths, like much of the sport, are shrouded by a disjointed bureaucracy. 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. He views himself as an ambassador for the sport. He was fined $1,500. At the time, she was 42-years-old. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby. This article was published more than1 year ago. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. 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.. Settlement reached over unauthorized Bob Baffert bourbon - The 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. Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. Baffert did not have another medication violation for eight years. Bob Baffert has supporters and detractors in how he deals with jockeys 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.. 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. It was an easy suspension to serve as Baffert was in school and not doing much training. It went exactly according to the lawyers plan. 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. The consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out. 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). 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. The hearing for a preliminary injunction began in federal court on Thursday afternoon, continuing a nearly two-year-long legal battle between Baffert and the racetrack following his suspension back in 2021. It was later discovered that horses from separate barns had also tested positive. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. Following the publication of the report, Baffert tweeted: Im gratified that CHRB completed its investigation & found there was no wrongdoing. 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. The drug was again betamethasone, and Baffert again expressed shock and vowed to clear his name. Ive heard the rumors on Bobby since we got in the business after winning some Cal Cup races. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. Bob Baffert: Judge denies his request to lift two-year Churchill Downs He got his first big break in 1992 when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews. The positive test only emerged when the New York Times reported it more than a year later. On June 9, Justify won the Belmont and the Triple Crown. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. 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. To the newspaper, she. Hollywood Park closed in 2013, and the saga of the dead horses there faded quickly from the headlines. Share on Facebook TWEET This 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. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. The New York Racing Assn. 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. Baffert has also had his share of horse fatalities, the other metric to which his critics point. Baffert also trained the 2018 Triple Crown Winner, Justify and the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic. On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. Former Democratic congressman Dennis Cardoza, also on the board, was co-owner with Pegram of Shakin It Up, a successful thoroughbred trained by Baffert. The bold statement appeared to put Baffert on the right side of history: By the end of the year, President Donald Trump had signed into law the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which promised to reform the sport. But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. He tried his hand at substitute teaching before he started training horses full time. That was one of the most exciting and enjoyable Derbies, Baffert said. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. But Clark Brewster, the attorney representing Medina Spirits owner, Amr Zedan, then contacted The Post and described Baffert as being unfairly maligned. 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. . Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. Bob Baffert Family, Parents 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. Arthur, the equine medical director, took issue with Petersens legal finding that the CHRBs handling of the case could be declared arbitrary or capricious. The CHRB had not adopted that recommendation. 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. Bafferts attorney argued in court that the trainers May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. In New York, chefs are redefining it. Baffert has had more than 30 drug violations in his 44-year career, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. 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. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. 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. He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. California counts all fatalities of horses in a trainers care, including breakdowns during training, not just racing deaths. 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. Nine died in 2000, all but one from breakdowns. We had some thoroughbreds with another trainer and Im thinking how can we make money with Bobby running for $4,000 at night when we could be running for $40,000 during the day, Pegram said. 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. Between 1997 and 1999, he won the Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer three years running and was voted the 1997 Big Sport of Turfdom Award. How carefully the dosage was followed was not determined, Arthur wrote. Mr. Wizards show plenty of heart early but cant find an edge late in Chicago. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. [31][32] Additional charges were added on January 3, 2022. This America's different." pic . A week after that, Baffert learned of the positive test. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. Hearing Officer Recommends 2-Year NYRA Ban for Bob Baffert 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. "We live in a different world now. 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." Sports team owners make huge political donations. Where does their Bob Baffert wakes up most every day with one thing in mind, winning another Kentucky Derby. 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. 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. In 2015, Baffert trained the 2014 champion two-year-old colt American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown, the first to do so in 37 years. Carson Valley was killed in a freak accident in 2019 at Del Mar when a loose horse crashed into the Baffert trainee. According to protocols, the medication is supposed to have a 14-day withdrawal period. 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. The dark side of Bob Baffert's reign - Washington Post "What a way to come back," said Baffert, whose punishment by the Kentucky Horse . What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. 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]. 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. 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. 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. 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. Jerry Hollendorfer has the most deaths with 122. 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. 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. Clark Brewster, a nationally known trial attorney who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her defamation suit against President Trump, will be Bafferts attorney in any litigation against Churchill Downs. In fact, at some point Id like to get back together with Bob, Shah said. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks . [10] Though number of racing starts are used to calculate rates of death for all horses in the care of race trainers, not all horse deaths were animals in race training nor were they necessarily race-related fatalities.