I thought wed get fourth. 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. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. 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. 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. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. 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. Baffert has saddled 34 horses in the Derby third-most in history since his first appearance in 1996. According to Arthurs report, he found that Baffert was dispensing Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a prescription thyroid hormone, to all horses in his care. But by August, the plan had changed. Does the drug that could strip Medina Spirit of a Kentucky Derby win enhance performance? The Post separately obtained start data dating back to 2000 from the Daily Racing Form to put the deaths into context. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. 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.. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Churchill Downs goes after suspended trainer Bob Baffert with new policy. A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. . It seems the biggest problem trainer Bob Baffert had during the running of the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday was keeping his face covering over his nose. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. That didnt feel appropriate to those of who wanted to see science prevail, Cardoza 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. The New York Racing Assn. In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. 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. Bob Baffert Family, Parents 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. 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. 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. 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. Its bizarre, Baedeker said, because you have a deputy attorney general criticizing the board for following the law to the letter.. 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 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc . Decorated racehorse trainer who won multiple Kentucky Derbies, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. I guess I'm more of an "old school" Republican. But the scuttled test result remained secret until the New York Times reported it in 2019. 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. The trainer was Baffert. This America's different." pic . The public backlash, including a letter written by a gay. Teflon."[11]. How carefully the dosage was followed was not determined, Arthur wrote. Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? [10], Controversy deepened when on December 6, 2021, Medina Spirit died of an apparent heart attack after a workout at Santa Anita Park. [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. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. 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. 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. Gary Fenton, chairman of the TOC, declined to be interviewed. The 77-year-old billionaire made headlines last year when he made a $10,000 contribution to opponents of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. His primary attorney is Craig Robertson, who represents him in all regulatory matters, but he has recused himself from any action against Churchill Downs because his law firm does business with the company, creating a conflict of interest. In April, after Arkansas reversed its decision on two Baffert horses and overturned his suspension, trainer Richard Baltas was bad-mouthing Baffert at Clockers Corner, the place where trainers and fans watch horses work in the morning at Santa Anita. The way this case was handled was not a favor for Bob Baffert, Arthur said. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. 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. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. 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. The board followed their recommendation. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. As the Kentucky Derby approached, officials began discussing the possibility of contamination that the positive test had been triggered by something Justify ingested. He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef. 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. Bob Baffert has supporters and detractors in how he deals with jockeys By John Cherwa Special Contributor Nov. 2, 2016 4:28 PM PT Bob Baffert, still fresh and snappy after hours of morning. 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. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. 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.. He has also won the Preakness Stakes five times and the Belmont Stakes once. There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isnt even done yet. Baffert also has wielded unmatched clout when regulators have discovered banned or excessive substances in his horses. 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. 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. Baffert, like many trainers, was using a thyroid drug that was cited in the CHRB investigation. This America's different." pic . [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. CHRB regulations state that its foreign substances guidelines are based on ARCI recommendations as modified by the state board. I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.. He married his second wife, Jill, a former television reporter based in Louisville, in 2002. You could trust him and that never changed.. Either way, the state-appointed official probing Bafferts role in the deaths at Hollywood Park did so as his job was being threatened by the efforts of a Baffert-affiliated coalition. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. He finished third in the Derby that year with Congaree. "[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. No sanctions were issued against Baffert.[40][41]. Baffert was fined $10,000. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. 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. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has successfully appealed his 15-day suspension to the Arkansas Racing Commission, allowing the six-time Kentucky Derby winner to resume preparations to run Medina . 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. 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. Carson Valley was killed in a freak accident in 2019 at Del Mar when a loose horse crashed into the Baffert trainee. The Baffert who snubbed me on April 29, 2010, that is the real Bob Baffert, not the glib, seemingly affable chap heretofore seen in TV interviews. Even then, he would not talk about the specifics of the cases against him. In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. Former Democratic congressman Dennis Cardoza, also on the board, was co-owner with Pegram of Shakin It Up, a successful thoroughbred trained by Baffert. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Grays successful election committee. Baffert did not have another medication violation for eight years. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. He told reporters that he would fight the issue "tooth and nail. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Baffert wrote that reforming racing was not just necessary to the sports survival but the only moral path forward.
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