Baffert's horses have won seven Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes and three Kentucky Oaks. In 1997, he trained Silver Charm to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont. The TOC, of which Baffert is still a board member, did not respond to requests for comment. Another person who came to Bafferts defense was his former assistant Tim Yakteen, who now runs his own stable. It elicited little notice; racehorses die by the hundreds per year in California alone. When he was 10, his father purchased some Quarter Horses and he practiced racing them on a dirt track. [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. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. 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. 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. The first two infractions occurred in May 2020, when the horses Charlatan and Gamine tested positive in Arkansas for lidocaine, a numbing agent. Some of the earlier violations do give you pause. PUBLISHED 9:20 AM ET Jul. Baffert is America's pre-eminent active trainer. Yeah, but thats what drives him. 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.. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. Has his success made people hate him more? The rise and fall of Jorge Navarro, the alleged doping king of horse racing. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. But by August, the plan had changed. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said. Horse racing needs to cut off the head of the snake, Ruis said. 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. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. ), Arthur has defended his handling of the Justify positive. 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. The horse is scheduled to run Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. In a hearing in October, the state and attorneys for Baffert and the horses owners stipulated the scopolamine positive was the result of contamination and it would have no performance-enhancing effects. 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.. I went under the radar. I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. 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. Decorated racehorse trainer who won multiple Kentucky Derbies, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. 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. As the trainer battles to protect his legacy, the records offer a new window into how those charged with running horse racings disjointed regulatory system have appeared to treat the powerful trainer with deference. Ruis horse, Bolt dOro, finished second. Closing everything and moving forward is in Bobs best interest and the best interest of horse racing. At the time, she was 42-years-old. He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. 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. A complaint is filed in every case where the split sample confirms the original laboratory finding, read an advisory on the CHRB website. 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.. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. In 2000, for instance, another of his horses, Nautical Look, tested positive for morphine, landing Baffert a two-month suspension. Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. Thats much higher than the Jockey Clubs widely cited national rates, which never exceed two deaths per 1,000 starts. 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. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. We went there with expectations not very high. 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. Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds. Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. Its all because of his success.. With upward of $1 million in yearly revenue drawn from wagering at tracks, the TOCs stated mission included establishing fair and reasonable medication rules and integrity standards., Baffert, the groups resident celebrity, was in business with several of his colleagues. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. He makes it clear that he believes in same-day medication and he believes in his whips, said Roberts, who has long pushed to remove whipping horses from racing. Hes Mr. Teflon.. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. 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]. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. Without that win, Justify would not have qualified to run in the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, a month later. 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. If the complaint was ruled on quickly enough, it would have made Justify ineligible for the Kentucky Derby. 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. The CHRB had not adopted that recommendation. But Clark Brewster, the attorney representing Medina Spirits owner, Amr Zedan, then contacted The Post and described Baffert as being unfairly maligned. 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's history in the American classic races began in 1996 when he trained a three-year-old colt named Cavonnier, who ran second in the Kentucky Derby. Federal prosecutors had just indicted more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians and others on charges related to doping horses, a seismic event in a sport already reeling from a well-publicized spate of horse deaths and perpetually dwindling revenue. The deadliest period came between 2000 and 2005, when 34 of Bafferts horses in California died. Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. 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. He won the aforementioned first race at a sanctioned track in 1970, but his mother insisted he attend college and he enrolled in the University of Arizonas Race Track Industry Program. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. [8] His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphene, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. Betamethasone is mostly injected into the joints of horses to ease inflammation and, if the inflammation is reduced, any associated pain subsides. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. CHRB regulations state that its foreign substances guidelines are based on ARCI recommendations as modified by the state board. Hollendorfers lawyer, Drew Couto, has claimed his client is being unfairly blamed for a high-profile spike of deaths at the track. The 5-year-old mare was the seventh seemingly healthy horse from that barn to drop dead in 16 months. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. Rick Arthur, Californias medical equine director, who the documents show played a central role in the scuttling of the Justify matter, said the only part of the CHRBs handling of the case that disappointed him was the secrecy. 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. The quest to find Jimson weed continued. Drop dead while galloping, read a California Horse Racing Board vets account of the first horses death in November 2011. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. But that number may drop to six if the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission disqualifies this years winner, Medina Spirit, for a medication violation, the trainers fifth since May 2020. . But hes Bob, he has to speak his mind.. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. [2], Baffert graduated from the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program with a Bachelor of Science degree,[3] got married, and began training quarter horses at a Prescott, Arizona farm. In the past three years, there were 188 deaths involving either racing or training in California. Those who have known Baffert the longest, including a core group of owners, recognize his flaws but generally remain steadfast in their support of him.
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