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In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. 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. [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. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. By then, Bafferts encounters with regulators dated back decades, to 1977, when he served a yearlong suspension for racing a horse on morphine. 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. Shortly after Petersen sent the analysis of the states chances, the CHRB agreed to settle Ruiss lawsuit. [19][20] On May 11, Baffert stated Medina Spirit had dermatitis, for which an ointment containing betamethasone was used. He declined to answer further questions. I guess I'm more of an "old school" Republican. Baffert was granted a stay until April 4 to gain time for an appeal. Being a horse trainer is tough enough because its such an up-and-down, emotional roller coaster, Baffert said. Baffert made the. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc. in federal court to end his suspension. At the time, she was 42-years-old. 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. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. 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. 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. ), Arthur has defended his handling of the Justify positive. You could trust him and that never changed.. I went under the radar. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. 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. Hospital food is a punchline. It wasn't long after the running of the 123rd Kentucky Derby, where a grey . In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. Baffert has had two fatalities in the last three years, a low number for a barn of his size. Hollywood Park closed in 2013, and the saga of the dead horses there faded quickly from the headlines. [31][32] Additional charges were added on January 3, 2022. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. [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. But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isnt even done yet. Ruis horse, Bolt dOro, finished second. In correspondence with the agencys lawyer, Baedeker wrote that because our staff failed to act in a timely manner, the horses, trainer, owner and others could be harmed unjustly if they didnt use the more lenient classification. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. April 29, 2022 9:00 AM. ), 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. Its just disheartening. [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. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. 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. Bob survived a heart attack in late March 2012 while in Dubai for a world-class race at Meydan. In 2015, the Daily Herald ran a profile on Jill Baffert, explaining that she was a former journalist and waitress from Centerville. 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. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. 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. I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. 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. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. According to Arthurs report, he found that Baffert was dispensing Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a prescription thyroid hormone, to all horses in his care. Baffert revisited the Derby the next year, sending two top colts, Real Quiet and Indian Charlie, to Louisville. 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. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. 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. With private eyes and political muscle, horse racings elite pushed to punish dopers, Bob Baffert, long horse racings irreverent king, sits on a precarious throne, Bob Baffert, banned from racing horses in New York, sues states racing association. Has his success made people hate him more? Time after time its not his fault. The first two infractions occurred in May 2020, when the horses Charlatan and Gamine tested positive in Arkansas for lidocaine, a numbing agent. Doug ONeill, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, was one of the few trainers who would talk about Bafferts recent troubles. Baffert was fined $10,000. Once again, the Hall of Fame. 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. In raw numbers, most of Baffert's medication violations were for exceeding allowed amounts of authorized medications such as phenylbutazone, a pain medication commonly administered to horses. Every investigation over the past 20 years has reached the same conclusion: no rules or regulations have been violated nor has there been any improper activity on Bobs part., Brewster also said that the vast majority of Bafferts drug-related violations, as tracked by ARCI, shouldnt be counted because they were too old or related to overages of otherwise-allowed drugs in a horse, which he dismissed as like coming to work with too much Advil in your system., Robertson said in an e-mail that [n]o one has done more for horse racing and is better for the sport than Bob Baffert, and he listed various awards the trainer has received, including being inducted into four separate Hall of Fames. 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. Tinsley declined to comment. Its more the friendship that I miss. Arthur said the TOC was behind the effort to oust him because of his criticism of Lasix. John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. Without that win, Justify would not have qualified to run in the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, a month later. Teflon."[11]. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. Citrus Feed Companys Larry Bell has long supplied Baffert with feed and has previously testified in Bafferts defense, according to CHRB records. 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. This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. 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. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. The veterinarian chalked up Bafferts response to ignorance. [39] California's equine medical director found that Baffert's horses were routinely given Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a thyroid hormone, that could cause heart problems during exercise, but concluded the medication, which Baffert said he had been using routinely for the previous five years, did not cause the heart attacks. In that period, 36% of all cardiac related horse deaths in California were animals trained by 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. (A CHRB spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. But hes Bob, he has to speak his mind.. Last October Gamine was disqualified from third to last in the Kentucky Oaks after betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory, was discovered in the horses system. By the April 1 ruling, Baffert had already transferred four 3-year-old colts to other trainers. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. Baffert has also had his share of horse fatalities, the other metric to which his critics point. He was fined $1,500. At first it was believed the substance came from a pain-relief patch that Bafferts longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes was wearing because of back pain. At one point, the regulators effort included searching for exonerating evidence in a literal haystack. 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. But Arthurs report said Hollywood Park used a different sort of poison than that found in the necropsy. But Baffert and his lawyers had since established a reputation for pugnaciousness when regulators attempted to discipline him. Both trainers were fined $500. In 2021, the post-race test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit showed 21pg/mL of betamethasone. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. 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. After Arthur cleared Baffert of wrongdoing, the legislation was abandoned. But after learning that Justify and another Baffert horse had tested positive for the same drug, Arthur announced in an e-mail to CHRB officials: The scopolamine cases will be handled differently than usual. Arthur said in a recent interview that he was referring to the logistics of what was clearly going to be a high-profile case that needed to be handled carefully.. 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 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. In 1997 he won his first Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm. There wasnt any question in my mind, he said recently. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. 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. He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef. Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified for a medication violation. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOC's political action committee, California records show. He finished third in the Derby that year with Congaree. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. The trainer was Baffert. 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.. Two Triple Crown winners and a signature shock of white hair will do that for a man. 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. 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. 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. In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. The trainer was fined $2,500. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. But in 2018, Arthur was still on the job when another Baffert-trained horse tested regulators willingness to challenge him. Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate him, Pegram said. Its so obvious. His most serious infraction was also his first. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. In September, Baffert learned via a text message from Barbara Borden, chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, that his horse Gamine had tested positive for the anti-inflammatory betamethasone at the Kentucky Oaks. Baffert says he plans to seek legal recourse wherever necessary. State investigators found that his staff was mixing a potentially dangerous prescription drug into the feed of every horse in his care. He built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. For every Baffert defender, you can find someone on the other side. Baffert said the horse ingested hay after a groom, who was taking cough medicine, had urinated in the horses stall. Hes good.. I dont see somebody who is doping horses, Martin said after reviewing Bafferts drug-related history. Gagliano, the Jockey Club president, denied that the group had any knowledge of whom 5 Stones investigated, outside of the eventual indictments. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said. CHRB brass agreed to follow Arthurs suggestion. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. Were going to get through it.. Baffert has saddled 34 horses in the Derby third-most in history since his first appearance in 1996. By then, Justify had won the Triple Crown, one of the rarest achievements in sports. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. [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. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. Bob had the personality and he was honest. 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. In 2012, Baffert saddled Bodemeister, named for the trainer's youngest son, Bode, to second-place finishes in the Derby and Preakness. 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. In 2015, a loose group of prominent thoroughbred owners hatched a plan according to people with direct knowledge of it to sic private eyes, from a firm called 5 Stones that helped bring down Russian dopers, on their sports most famous trainer. The board agreed not to disqualify Justify. The Post reported this month that Arthur had previously studied a spate of sudden horse deaths in Bafferts barn. 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. 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 . Its all right there in black and white; thats all I can say., ARCI President Ed Martin said the rules limiting race-day medications have been tightened not out of concern for performance enhancement but to prevent breakdowns. 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. Bafferts attorney argued in court that the trainers May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. 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. On June 1, Baedeker had asked the agencys top lawyer and investigator how close they were to filing the Scopolamine complaints., On July 9, a month after Justifys Belmont triumph, the agencys chief counsel, Robert Brodnik, wrote to the CHRB investigator that they would like to officially file by Monday.. [34] However, the Kentucky Court of Appeals rejected Baffert's appeal on April 1. The colt skipped the Belmont Stakes but became the champion three-year-old colt that year. He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. "So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky," Trump's statement read. Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. Its bizarre, Baedeker said, because you have a deputy attorney general criticizing the board for following the law to the letter.. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. Nine died in 2000, all but one from breakdowns. 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. 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. 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. The longest his suspension from Kentucky would be is 30 days, which would be honored by all racing jurisdictions. On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. That didnt feel appropriate to those of who wanted to see science prevail, Cardoza said. 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. 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. 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. Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. 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. But by August, the plan had changed. Baffert has paid out over $20,000 in fines, but compared against over $321 million in career earnings.