Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. EXPLAINER: Why Is Bob Baffert Not in the Kentucky Derby? Settlement reached over unauthorized Bob Baffert bourbon - The Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. Please answer some questions in this short survey about professional soccer and the 2022 Men's FIFA World Cup. 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 1997, he trained Silver Charm to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont. 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. 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. Bob Bafferts horses have incurred numerous drug violations over the course of his 44 years as a thoroughbred trainer. 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. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. Baffert, however, wouldnt change the outcome. Gagliano, the Jockey Club president, denied that the group had any knowledge of whom 5 Stones investigated, outside of the eventual indictments. 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. The dark side of Bob Baffert's reign. The Kentucky Derby winner is staying ahead of . Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. Drop dead while galloping, read a California Horse Racing Board vets account of the first horses death in November 2011. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. This time, he aided the CHRBs search for Jimson weed. Hes good.. 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. Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. 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. 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.. The trainer was Baffert. Attorneys argue 90-day suspension would end Bob Baffert's racing career In that period, 36% of all cardiac related horse deaths in California were animals trained by Baffert. Baffert was fined $10,000. 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. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. Time after time its not his fault. [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension 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. 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. 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. He views himself as an ambassador for the sport. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. [45], Last edited on 11 February 2023, at 14:09, American Pharoah Stakes / FrontRunner Stakes / Norfolk Stakes, Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes / Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap, Los Alamitos Futurity / Hollywood Futurity, Starlet Stakes / Hollywood Starlet Stakes, United States Champion Trainer by earnings, American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse, American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, "Bob Baffert Has Come a Long Way in Horse Racing", "Baffert nears $300M mark with an all-star stable", "American Pharoah claims first Triple Crown since 1978", "Bob Baffert no stranger to failed drug tests by his horses", "Press Release Racing Museum April 20, 2009", "The last stand of Bob Baffert, horse racing's most successful and embattled trainer", "Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win in doubt after postrace drug test", "Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Withdrawal Guidelines Thoroughbred; Standardbred; Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, and Arabian", "Baffert: Meds applied to Derby winner had steroid", "Medina Spirit Tests Positive for Betamethasone", "Baffert says Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive", "Churchill Downs' Statement in Response to Medina Spirit's Post-Race Test Result Allegations", "Trainer: Kentucky Derby winner faces disqualification due to 'cancel culture', "Bob Baffert asserts Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win was valid, invokes 'cancel culture', "Bob Baffert says Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with ointment that contained steroid", "Baffert Has Turned Medina Spirit Controversy Into a Circus", "Baffert's Leaking Credibility Reaches Saturation Point", "Churchill Downs Inc. suspends Baffert for 2 years", "Trainer Bob Baffert suspended from entering Medina Spirit, other horses at Belmont Park", "New York Racing Officials Suspend Baffert From Belmont Stakes", "Trainer Bob Baffert sues to get New York suspension lifted", "Horse trainer Bob Baffert sues New York racing officials over suspension", "Baffert sues to overturn New York racing ban", "Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension", "Baffert charged by New York Racing, scheduled for hearing", "Legendary horse trainer charged again following Kentucky Derby scandal", "NYRA Amends Charges Against Baffert to Include Bute Overages", "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest", "Bob Baffert fined $1,500, Gamine disqualified from third-place finish in Kentucky Oaks", "Here's what we know following Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's positive drug test", "Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack at Santa Anita", "Baffert Horses Big Part of Sudden Death Spike", "Report on the investigation and review of the seven sudden deaths on the Hollywood Park main track of horses trained by Bob Baffert and stabled in Barn 61", "Cardiac Failure Fatalities Spike in California, Baffert Barn", "Bafferts Make Whopper Of A Donation To Equine Charities", "Bafferts, Espinoza donate Belmont winnings", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Baffert&oldid=1138770123, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 14:09. 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. Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate him, Pegram said. [2][4], Baffert established his early reputation with less expensive horses like Silver Charm and Real Quiet, bought for $16,500 and $17,000 respectively. None of them are considered performance-enhancing in the traditional sense, such as amphetamines or speedballs. Former Democratic congressman Dennis Cardoza, also on the board, was co-owner with Pegram of Shakin It Up, a successful thoroughbred trained by Baffert. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. Other people may have made a different decision, but to say that there was no basis for that decision is pure bulls---, said Arthur, who announced his retirement this year. Bob Baffert wakes up most every day with one thing in mind, winning another Kentucky Derby. Its all because of his success.. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. 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. Bob is trying to put 2020 behind him and move forward in a positive manner, Robertson wrote in an e-mail to Borden. 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. "[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. The horse is scheduled to run Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. The CHRB officially opened an investigation. Baffert grew up on a cattle and chicken farm in Nogales, Ariz., near the Mexico border. The 5-year-old mare was the seventh seemingly healthy horse from that barn to drop dead in 16 months. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. [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. But in the most recent election in June, he finished seventh of eight, the only incumbent beaten. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. In a recent interview, Arthur described his findings as damning for Baffert, in particular analysis in his report showing that, over a six-year period, Bafferts horses were nine times more likely to die of sudden death than the average trainers. Bell told an investigator he then checked other bales and found a branch and pods he thought were Jimson weed in the parking lot. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. On July 15, 2020, Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen sent his initial case assessment to Brodnik. All of the explanations for the positive drug tests are plausible, but collectively they raise questions. Among them, according to interviews and records obtained by The Post: a push to have the veterinary official removed from office, supported by a trade group with Baffert among its directors. 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 . Being a horse trainer is tough enough because its such an up-and-down, emotional roller coaster, Baffert said. All of the drugs were legal, just not in the amounts found on race day. 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. A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. 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. (The trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) Mr. 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. If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.. 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. 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. That was one of the most exciting and enjoyable Derbies, Baffert said. 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 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. [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. 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. Maryland Racing Commission Officially Suspends Bob Baffert, Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. April 29, 2022 9:00 AM. Hes Mr. Teflon.. The Post reported this month that Arthur had previously studied a spate of sudden horse deaths in Bafferts barn. followed up and ruled Baffert would not be allowed to run in New York. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. Baffert said in his autobiography it was a combination of ignorance and desperation. 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. We live and work in a fishbowl, with rumors and accusations flowing constantly, Baffert said. The owner was Kaleem Shah. In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. Its more the friendship that I miss. Baffert has saddled 34 horses in the Derby third-most in history since his first appearance in 1996. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. I guess I'm more of an "old school" Republican. Hes always wanted to be a rock star and some people dont think racing should have one.. 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]. He followed it with six more Derbies, two of which launched Triple Crown runs, with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. Kentucky regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert after Medina Spirit test. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. He paused, then added: Ive learned who my friends are.. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. Churchill Downs Draws a Hard Line With Bob Baffert Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. Per Baffert, barn staff including grooms, were involved in administering the thyroxine in feed.. 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. to move forward. Petersen did not respond to an interview request. The month after that, Grays bill to limit Arthurs term was passed out of a committee. 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. Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. Its not often that a sport turns against its biggest star, but Churchill Downs has taken that stand. View . "Bobby" Adair. PUBLISHED 9:20 AM ET Jul. Baedeker said this week he changed his mind on not filing a complaint, which would have put the matter before CHRBs Board of Stewards, because he didnt want to pass the buck. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. Jerry Hollendorfer has the most deaths with 122. 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. In 2021, the post-race test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit showed 21pg/mL of betamethasone. By then, Bafferts encounters with regulators dated back decades, to 1977, when he served a yearlong suspension for racing a horse on morphine. 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. 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. We went there with expectations not very high. Sports team owners make huge political donations. Where does their It elicited little notice; racehorses die by the hundreds per year in California alone. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. 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.. Regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert - Los Angeles Times And because of that, he has become arrogant as hell. Political Cartoons. This pattern has bred frustration among some horsemen. Baffert, like many trainers, was using a thyroid drug that was cited in the CHRB investigation. Last October Gamine was disqualified from third to last in the Kentucky Oaks after betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory, was discovered in the horses system. [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. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. By the April 1 ruling, Baffert had already transferred four 3-year-old colts to other trainers. CHRB regulations state that its foreign substances guidelines are based on ARCI recommendations as modified by the state board. The colt skipped the Belmont Stakes but became the champion three-year-old colt that year. Does his love of the camera sometimes bite him? asked longtime owner and friend Mike Pegram. After Arthur cleared Baffert of wrongdoing, the legislation was abandoned. 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. I went under the radar. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. 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. 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. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. 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. Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. According to Arthurs report, he found that Baffert was dispensing Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a prescription thyroid hormone, to all horses in his care. 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 . Citrus Feed Companys Larry Bell has long supplied Baffert with feed and has previously testified in Bafferts defense, according to CHRB records. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. How carefully the dosage was followed was not determined, Arthur wrote. A complaint is filed in every case where the split sample confirms the original laboratory finding, read an advisory on the CHRB website. In 2012, Baffert saddled Bodemeister, named for the trainer's youngest son, Bode, to second-place finishes in the Derby and Preakness. Shortly after Petersen sent the analysis of the states chances, the CHRB agreed to settle Ruiss lawsuit. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. 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." Baffert said the horse was off the drug for 18 days before the race. His graded stakes wins include nine wins in the Santa Anita Derby, nine in the Haskell Invitational Handicap, and fourteen in the Del Mar Futurity, a race he won seven straight times from 1996 to 2002, when it was a Grade II event. 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. ), 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. Arkansas racing officials vote not to suspend Bob Baffert - ESPN.com 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. 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. 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. In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. And in the 13 months following his essay in The Post, Bafferts horses tested positive for prohibited or excessive substances five times in three states. Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. The goal, the people familiar said, was to get Baffert to support languishing reforms in the sport. 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. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. 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. Biography Bob Baffert is best known as a horse rider. 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.