He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. The Post reported this month that Arthur had previously studied a spate of sudden horse deaths in Bafferts barn. The Kentucky Derby winner is staying ahead of . Hes Mr. Teflon.. 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. 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. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said. He also dismissed complaints that doping was rampant in the sport. A 4/C violation meant minor punishment that wouldnt typically involve disqualifying the horse or redistributing winnings. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. 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. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. The. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. Instead of promptly filing a public complaint against Baffert, the CHRB kept the positive result secret while Arthur conducted a lengthy investigation. To the newspaper, she. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. Its all because of his success.. Arthur said the TOC was behind the effort to oust him because of his criticism of Lasix. Baffert made the. 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. My heart tells me one thing, but my head tells me something else, said veteran racing journalist Ron Flatter, the managing editor of the website Horse Racing Nation. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. Kentucky regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert after Medina Spirit test. In response to public records requests in Maryland, New Jersey and Kentucky, officials told The Post that they did not maintain digital records of horse deaths by trainer, instead keeping reams of copies of reports. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. 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. If they didnt adopt those rules, the rules that prevail are the ones they adopted.. 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. Baffert said the horse ingested hay after a groom, who was taking cough medicine, had urinated in the horses stall. 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. We live and work in a fishbowl, with rumors and accusations flowing constantly, Baffert said. 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. ), The records show Arthurs early decisions led to the CHRB veering off its usual course in its handling of the Justify case, beginning with his email to a testing coordinator that read, The scopolamine cases will be handled differently than usual., By the CHRBs own guidelines, the way forward was clear: If a second sample came back positive, the CHRB would file a complaint. "[29][30] On September 10, 2021 Baffert was charged by NYRA for conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing. Being a horse trainer is tough enough because its such an up-and-down, emotional roller coaster, Baffert said. He's saddled. Nonetheless, in that case, Arkansas suspended Baffert for 15 days. Nothing is held back.. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. Jerry Hollendorfer has the most deaths with 122. 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. 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. But even in those cases, which were handled according to established rules, the horses were disqualified and their winning purses were forfeited. They had discussions with David Tinsley, the former DEA supervisor who runs 5 Stones, the people said, but the thoroughbred owners involved scrapped the plan. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. The veterinarian chalked up Bafferts response to ignorance. [13] In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. [10], Controversy deepened when on December 6, 2021, Medina Spirit died of an apparent heart attack after a workout at Santa Anita Park. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. By Marty Irby. 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. In an email Monday, Bafferts attorney, W. Craig Robertson III, referred to the CHRBs initial decision to dismiss the test and a hearing last year in which officials ruled they had no authority to overturn that decision. A court, the states lawyer wrote, could find that the CHRB abused its discretion and acted in a manner that was arbitrary, capricious, or entirely lacking in evidentiary support.. 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. 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.. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. [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. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. 10, 2022. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. This pattern has bred frustration among some horsemen. California counts all fatalities of horses in a trainers care, including breakdowns during training, not just racing deaths. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . 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. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. It was then that Baffert, one of the most accessible trainers in horse racing, stopped talking until this week. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. 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. A complaint is filed in every case where the split sample confirms the original laboratory finding, read an advisory on the CHRB website. Shortly after Petersen sent the analysis of the states chances, the CHRB agreed to settle Ruiss lawsuit. In the 1980s, Baffert moved to California and worked at Los Alamitos Race Course, where he switched to training Thoroughbreds full-time in 1991. 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. [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. 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. State investigators found that his staff was mixing a potentially dangerous prescription drug into the feed of every horse in his care. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. 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.. The dark side of Bob Baffert's reign. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. But in the most recent election in June, he finished seventh of eight, the only incumbent beaten. In 2012, Baffert saddled Bodemeister, named for the trainer's youngest son, Bode, to second-place finishes in the Derby and Preakness. [8] His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphene, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years. Theres a recognition that certain substances are normal in equine care, Martin said, but if that horse still requires that, then maybe you shouldnt run the horse., Martin made a distinction between doping horses with banned substances and running them with too much medication. Hes the person few in the business want to talk about, but everyone wants to hear about. None of them are considered performance-enhancing in the traditional sense, such as amphetamines or speedballs. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. Hell do anything to win, and hes got all his bases covered politically, Barry Irwin, owner of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, said of Baffert. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. Medina Spirit departed Churchill Downs in a van before dawn on Monday, bound for Baltimore (a horse van, not Jeff Spicoli's VW bus ). In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. "[10], However, over 30 horses Baffert trained have failed drug tests. As he did so, a political group with Baffert on its board was involved in legislation that would result in Arthur losing his job. A week after that, Baffert learned of the positive test. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. 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. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. 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.. But a top veterinary official cleared Baffert, finding that the spate of deaths remains unexplained following a probe that demonstrated the hazards of going after Baffert. Great Read: Bob Baffert has come a long way in horse racing, Santa Anita opens Friday as prelude to Breeders Cup at Del Mar, Surging Crespi receives another strong performance from sophomore Diego Velazquez, High school baseball and softball: Fridays scores, With Marcus Morris sidelined, Clippers look to stabilize lineup and rotations, With their playoff lives at stake, Darvin Ham challenges Lakers effort and urgency. 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. The cluster of sudden deaths remains unexplained and there was no evidence whatsoever CHRB rules or regulations have been violated or any illicit activity played a part in the deaths, Arthurs report concluded. 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. Its just disheartening. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. 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. 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. And he pushes the envelope to the extent that they give their lives for his bank account.. All of the explanations for the positive drug tests are plausible, but collectively they raise questions. 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. Other trainers seem to navigate just fine.. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. Board member Michael E. Pegram had for decades hired Baffert to train his top horses, including the winner of the 1998 Kentucky Derby, Real Quiet. The Judge made her ruling based on the NYRA having not allowed Baffert a forum to refute their claims and stated that (they the NYRA).."had held no hearing let alone a prompt one. Garcia left California horse racing the next year, according to CHRB records; he could not be reached for comment by The Post. 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. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. By then, Bafferts encounters with regulators dated back decades, to 1977, when he served a yearlong suspension for racing a horse on morphine. 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. The drug was again betamethasone, and Baffert again expressed shock and vowed to clear his name. Baffert won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. Doug ONeill, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, was one of the few trainers who would talk about Bafferts recent troubles. 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. . Its so obvious. He claimed the boards cover up cost him damages including the $400,000 difference between the first-place and second-place purses in the Santa Anita Derby.

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