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. Baffert's attorney argued in court that the trainer's May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. The longest his suspension from Kentucky would be is 30 days, which would be honored by all racing jurisdictions. 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. 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. Gray declined to be interviewed for this story, instead issuing a statement declaring that the personal vendettas of others, perceived or otherwise, play no roll [sic] in the legislation I carry. His spokesman added that campaign contributions do not affect Grays policy proposals. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Churchill Downs goes after suspended trainer Bob Baffert with new policy. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. Thats much higher than the Jockey Clubs widely cited national rates, which never exceed two deaths per 1,000 starts. Ive heard the rumors on Bobby since we got in the business after winning some Cal Cup races. Asked whether he was surprised by the finding that Bafferts barn was the deadliest in California, Roberts laughed. 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. 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. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. We went there with expectations not very high. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. Racing does not have a historical database for violations, with most of the information kept on the state level. [27][28] On July 14 the suspension was reversed by U. S. Federal District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon sitting in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. No sanctions were issued against Baffert.[40][41]. "[10], However, over 30 horses Baffert trained have failed drug tests. It didnt take Baffert long to dominate Rillito Park and Prescott Downs in Arizona. 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 the past three years, there were 188 deaths involving either racing or training in California. Bob Baffert wakes up most every day with one thing in mind, winning another Kentucky Derby. Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds. 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. [citation needed], According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. 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. Four months after that, in May 2014, Arthur issued an advisory that the CHRB was concerned by the apparently indiscriminate use of thyroxine and that the drug must be prescribed for a specific horse for a specific condition. Arthur told The Post that the advisory was a result of the Baffert investigation. 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. Biography Bob Baffert is best known as a horse rider. Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? 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. All of the explanations for the positive drug tests are plausible, but collectively they raise questions. Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. It was obvious long before Miners Daughter collapsed in a blood-tinged froth in March 2013 that there was something amiss in Barn 61 at Hollywood Park, the Los Angeles-area racetrack. Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified for a medication violation. Does the drug that could strip Medina Spirit of a Kentucky Derby win enhance performance? The consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out. Theres 10,000 other trainers who understand the absolute insurer rule and dont seem to run afoul of it, Gagliano said, referring to the edict that any substances in the horse are the trainers responsibility. The colt skipped the Belmont Stakes but became the champion three-year-old colt that year. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. 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. The quest to find Jimson weed continued. The board followed their recommendation. Its all because of his success.. 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. [43] At the post-Belmont press conference, Baffert announced he and his wife would be making donations of $50,000 each to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), and Old Friends Equine, all programs for retired race horses; and to the Permanently Disabled Jockey's Fund in memory of a Quarter Horse Jockey named Robert Z. Baedeker this week acknowledged that they handled the process more slowly than usual. 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. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. 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. 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. 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. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. 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 . The suspension was scheduled to run March 8 through June 5. 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. 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. When he was 10, his father purchased some Quarter Horses and he practiced racing them on a dirt track. 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. [19][20] On May 11, Baffert stated Medina Spirit had dermatitis, for which an ointment containing betamethasone was used. Once again, the Hall of Fame. His last day as medical equine director is Wednesday. 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. But hes a good person, no, a great person. But the star trainers sudden support belied the fact that Baffert has for years been entangled with the very problems he blamed for his sports potential demise: drugs, dead horses and a feckless regulatory system. 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." [24], On May 17, 2021, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) banned Baffert from entering Medina Spirit or any of his other horses in the 2021 Belmont Stakes or any other race at Belmont Park. This pattern has bred frustration among some horsemen. 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. 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.. The first two infractions occurred in May 2020, when the horses Charlatan and Gamine tested positive in Arkansas for lidocaine, a numbing agent. The dark side of Bob Baffert's reign. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . A 4/C violation meant minor punishment that wouldnt typically involve disqualifying the horse or redistributing winnings. But Arthurs report said Hollywood Park used a different sort of poison than that found in the necropsy. Other trainers seem to navigate just fine.. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. [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. 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. 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.. California counts all fatalities of horses in a trainers care, including breakdowns during training, not just racing deaths. 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. 10, 2022. As the Kentucky Derby approached, officials began discussing the possibility of contamination that the positive test had been triggered by something Justify ingested. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. 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 substance was indeed Jimson weed. 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. [10][12] However, his violations for use of prohibited medications has sparked controversy. Betamethasone is mostly injected into the joints of horses to ease inflammation and, if the inflammation is reduced, any associated pain subsides. followed up and ruled Baffert would not be allowed to run in New York. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. It elicited little notice; racehorses die by the hundreds per year in California alone. Baffert was inducted into Lone Star Park's Hall of Fame in 2007, and in 2009, he was nominated and inducted to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, the same year as a filly he trained, Silverbulletday. was. Baffert did not win another classic race until 2001, when he won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with eventual Hall of Fame member Point Given. In a scheme typical of the high-stakes warring behind the scenes in racing, four thoroughbred owners entered talks in 2015 with a private intelligence agency to dig up drug-related dirt on Baffert, according to multiple people with direct knowledge. Jerry Hollendorfer has the most deaths with 122. 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. 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. The 77-year-old billionaire made headlines last year when he made a $10,000 contribution to opponents of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. The CHRB had not adopted that recommendation. What I can tell you definitely is this case was handled differently, and it was handled differently because of Rick Arthur, said Ruiss attorney, Darrell Vienna. And Noodles died May 22 of a non-exercise induced respiratory issue. to move forward. Petersen did not respond to an interview request. He was fined $1,500. The colt went on to win the Preakness Stakes, giving the trainer his third shot at winning the Triple Crown. Its more the friendship that I miss. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. He also dismissed complaints that doping was rampant in the sport. Share on Facebook TWEET This The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. The Jockey Club has a database of thoroughbred breakdowns meaning deaths stemming from track injuries but said it is barred from sharing its data because of its contracts with racetracks. Gray said at the time that the bill also would increase the institutional knowledge of Californias central horse drug-testing lab. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. But in 2018, Arthur was still on the job when another Baffert-trained horse tested regulators willingness to challenge him. Arthur also presented exercise histories for the horses that showed they worked harder than average. [11], Prior to Medina Spirit's death, Baffert had last been under intense scrutiny a decade earlier when seven horses in his stables at Hollywood Park died between November 2, 2011 and March 14, 2013, all from sudden and later unexplained heart attacks. On a recent afternoon, Baffert appeared largely unperturbed by the firestorm surrounding him when he answered his door in Arcadia, Calif. This is the first Ive learned of it, Baffert responded when told of The Posts finding that he had the highest rate of horse deaths among other top trainers in the state. [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. 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. 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. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOC's political action committee, California records show. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. 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. But Bafferts critics say his conduct after penning the article calls into question his seriousness about reform. Ruis horse, Bolt dOro, finished second. Baffert faces unprecedented scrutiny after a positive drug test marred a win by his horse Medina Spirit at this years Kentucky Derby. But by August, the plan had changed. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended from the home of the Kentucky Derby for two years after Medina Spirit's positive post-race drug was confirmed, the company that runs the. He has also won the Preakness Stakes five times and the Belmont Stakes once. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. "[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. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. He paused, then added: Ive learned who my friends are.. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Baffert's horses have won seven Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes and three Kentucky Oaks. 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. Baffert was granted a stay until April 4 to gain time for an appeal. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. 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. But the sports new governing authority will not take over until mid-2022. The groom denied it. 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. This included Baffert's home track at Santa Anita, although Baffert horse Shaaz won the sixth race on April 2. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. Baffert did not have another medication violation for eight years. 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. This America's different." pic . The majority of the deaths in Bafferts care are attributed to breakdowns, though others have died suddenly without explanation and some of the horses suffered illness including his most recent death, Noodles, in May where pneumonia was the suspected cause. Bob had the personality and he was honest. 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. He declined to answer further questions. According to data provided by the California Horse Racing Board and supplemented by The Times research, the trainer has had 75 horses die since 2000 either racing, training, or by illness or non-exercise accidents. Bob survived a heart attack in late March 2012 while in Dubai for a world-class race at Meydan. Gary Fenton, chairman of the TOC, declined to be interviewed. Shah said the two parted over disagreements that should have been resolved, without being specific. There are no secrets on the backside.. Hes good.. Some of the earlier violations do give you pause. As he did so, a political group with Baffert on its board was involved in legislation that would result in Arthur losing his job. In winning the 141st Kentucky Derby, bringing his total number of victories in the race to four; Baffert also ran the third-place finisher, the previously undefeated colt Dortmund. 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. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. Horse trainer Bob Baffert on Monday argued that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit had been a victim of "cancel culture" after the horse failed a postrace drug test . (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. Arthur suggested the board retroactively apply it to the Justify case. 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. Garcia left California horse racing the next year, according to CHRB records; he could not be reached for comment by The Post. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. 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. By then, Bafferts encounters with regulators dated back decades, to 1977, when he served a yearlong suspension for racing a horse on morphine. Grays office told the committee that removing Dr. Arthur from his position, while intentional, is not the sole purpose of the bill, records show. The scheme involved digging up drug-related dirt on Baffert and then telling him that the evidence could disappear tomorrow if he were to endorse the federal reforms of the sport, one of the people said. You could trust him and that never changed.. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. Per Baffert, barn staff including grooms, were involved in administering the thyroxine in feed.. The bottom line, he said, is if youre a horse in Bob Bafferts barn, youre there to work.. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. Following the publication of the report, Baffert tweeted: Im gratified that CHRB completed its investigation & found there was no wrongdoing. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. Horse racing needs to cut off the head of the snake, Ruis said. The board agreed not to disqualify Justify. May 10, 2021. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. 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. Baffert has had more than 30 drug violations in his 44-year career, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. PUBLISHED 9:20 AM ET Jul. For every Baffert defender, you can find someone on the other side. Even then, he would not talk about the specifics of the cases against him. 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. Robertson blamed the frequency of Bafferts drug-related violations on how often his horses are tested after winning races and said, Horse racings regulations need to catch up with the sensitivity of modern day testing., Jockey Club President James L. Gagliano dismissed that frequent complaint from Baffert.

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