There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isnt even done yet. The drug was again betamethasone, and Baffert again expressed shock and vowed to clear his name. Hes always wanted to be a rock star and some people dont think racing should have one.. According to Arthurs report, he found that Baffert was dispensing Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a prescription thyroid hormone, to all horses in his care. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. Hollywood Park closed in 2013, and the saga of the dead horses there faded quickly from the headlines. [8] His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphene, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years. 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. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. He finished third in the Derby that year with Congaree. 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.. I went under the radar. In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. [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. Baffert revisited the Derby the next year, sending two top colts, Real Quiet and Indian Charlie, to Louisville. 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. 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. Arthur also presented exercise histories for the horses that showed they worked harder than average. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. Baffert says he plans to seek legal recourse wherever necessary. 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. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. He tried his hand at substitute teaching before he started training horses full time. California keeps track of horse deaths by trainer, but there are errors and limits to the data. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. But Clark Brewster, the attorney representing Medina Spirits owner, Amr Zedan, then contacted The Post and described Baffert as being unfairly maligned. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . 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. 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.. 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.. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. 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. Two Triple Crown winners and a signature shock of white hair will do that for a man. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. He followed it with six more Derbies, two of which launched Triple Crown runs, with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. The CHRB provided The Post with death data dating back to late 1990 showing that at least 87 of Bafferts horses have died in California since then. 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. In that period, 36% of all cardiac related horse deaths in California were animals trained by Baffert. But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. Horse-racing deaths, like much of the sport, are shrouded by a disjointed bureaucracy. Hal Earnhardt, an Arizona car dealer and Bafferts oldest client, introduced him to Pegram, who made his money in fast-food franchising. 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. He views himself as an ambassador for the sport. He declined to answer further questions. 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. [As for whats going on now,] I dont like it but Im dealing with it. Bob is trying to put 2020 behind him and move forward in a positive manner, Robertson wrote in an e-mail to Borden. They had discussions with David Tinsley, the former DEA supervisor who runs 5 Stones, the people said, but the thoroughbred owners involved scrapped the plan. Arthur suggested the board retroactively apply it to the Justify case. 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. 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. Decorated racehorse trainer who won multiple Kentucky Derbies, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. 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. Before his Kentucky Derby-winning colt, Medina Spirit, tested positive for betamethasone last month which could erase the victory his horses were cited for drug-related violations 29 times, according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI). 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. Ruis horse, Bolt dOro, finished second. 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. In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. Does his love of the camera sometimes bite him? asked longtime owner and friend Mike Pegram. [13] In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. 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. Baffert was fined $10,000. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. In February, Kentucky racing officials decided against suspending Baffert, with Borden telling the Louisville Courier-Journal a lesser punishment was all in the course of being fair. And in April, Arkansas officials reversed the 15-day suspension for lidocaine positives that the trainer blamed on an assistants pain patch. 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. But by August, the plan had changed. Bob survived a heart attack in late March 2012 while in Dubai for a world-class race at Meydan. 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. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. It then changed the classification of scopolamine so that its detection in a horse would trigger only a fine and not disqualification and loss of the races purse. 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. 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. The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc. in federal court to end his suspension. Kentucky regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert after Medina Spirit test. There were at least 39 trainers with more fatalities to their name than Baffert during that period. It basically said something under his control is associated with these fatalities, Arthur said, but regulators couldnt act without evidence of a rules violation. Does the drug that could strip Medina Spirit of a Kentucky Derby win enhance performance? If you lose 75% of the time, youre considered really, really good. "[10], However, over 30 horses Baffert trained have failed drug tests. 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. He told reporters that he would fight the issue "tooth and nail. 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. Baffert, a La Caada Flintridge resident who is currently training his horses at Santa Anita, has not officially been charged with anything related to Medina Spirit. But Baffert and his lawyers had since established a reputation for pugnaciousness when regulators attempted to discipline him. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. In his analysis, Petersen estimated the states chances of winning at trial to be 50 percent. By then, Justify had won the Triple Crown, one of the rarest achievements in sports. Currently, his major coverage area is horse racing, where he can be found at big races at Santa Anita, the Triple Crown series and Breeders Cup. 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 previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. Arthur is retiring at the end of June from a job often consumed by the scandals of a single trainer. The Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Trainer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2015, Baffert has won 18 Breeders' Cup races, including four editions of the Classic with . 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. For every Baffert defender, you can find someone on the other side. was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. 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. Baffert has saddled 34 horses in the Derby third-most in history since his first appearance in 1996. Baffert, however, wouldnt change the outcome. The colt skipped the Belmont Stakes but became the champion three-year-old colt that year. The trainer was Baffert. 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. But the scuttled test result remained secret until the New York Times reported it in 2019. His American Pharaoh horse won the Triple Crown in 2015. Once again, the Hall of Fame. Bafferts record of testing failures threatens public confidence in thoroughbred racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby, said Bill Carstanjen, chief executive of Churchill Downs Inc. Given these repeated failures over the last year, including the increasingly extraordinary explanations, we firmly believe that asserting our rights to impose these measures is our duty and responsibility.. Gagliano, the Jockey Club president, denied that the group had any knowledge of whom 5 Stones investigated, outside of the eventual indictments. Horse trainer Bob Baffert before the 2020 Breeders Cup at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. Trainer Bob Baffert pets an outriders horse while watching workouts at Churchill Downs in April. 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. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. We went there with expectations not very high. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. . Bob had the personality and he was honest. 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. That didnt feel appropriate to those of who wanted to see science prevail, Cardoza said. [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. The hearing for a preliminary injunction began in federal court on Thursday afternoon, continuing a nearly two-year-long legal battle between Baffert and the racetrack following his suspension back in 2021. The deadliest period came between 2000 and 2005, when 34 of Bafferts horses in California died. 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. Baffert often speaks of his life as if its a Shakespearean play, humankinds tragedies mingling with his own existential crises. John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. (The trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) Baffert was recently suspended for 90 days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, California Horse Racing Board, and the New York State Gaming Commission for drug violations in the 2021 Kentucky . Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Grays successful election committee. 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. The board agreed not to disqualify Justify. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. In each instance, the death is investigated. In 2010, Misremembered, a horse he bred, owned by his wife Jill and their friend George Jacobs, won the Santa Anita Handicap, marking Baffert's first Grade I win as a breeder instead of a trainer. When asked about that plan, attorney Brewster said that in fact 5 Stones did investigate Baffert at the direction of the Jockey Club. 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. 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 won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. On May 5, Justify won the Kentucky Derby, upping the stakes of the investigation. American Pharoah next won the 140th Preakness Stakes, making six victories in that race for Baffert, who also finished fourth with Dortmund. Thats much higher than the Jockey Clubs widely cited national rates, which never exceed two deaths per 1,000 starts. 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. Baffert has also had his share of horse fatalities, the other metric to which his critics point. In New York, chefs are redefining it. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. Hes a very unique personality, a unique sense of humor. Yeah, but thats what drives him. He was 10 when his father, Bill, bought a couple of quarter horses, plowed some land for a track and Bob started riding them before school each morning. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. The. Medina Spirit had a legal medication in him, ONeill said. Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. His most serious infraction was also his first. 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. FILE - Trainer Bob Baffert walks out to the winner's circle after the Brooklyn Invitational Stakes horse race at Belmont Park, Saturday, June 9, 2018, in Elmont, N.Y. . 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 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. There is nothing new here, he wrote. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. Political Cartoons. On at least 14 occasions, Baffert has been caught racing a horse with more than the allowable amount of bute in its system, according to a review of ARCI data, making it his most common offense. 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. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. 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. 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. But hes a good person, no, a great person. Hes Mr. Teflon.. Time after time its not his fault. If the complaint was ruled on quickly enough, it would have made Justify ineligible for the Kentucky Derby. How carefully the dosage was followed was not determined, Arthur wrote. Baffert claims the defendants have "unlawfully deprived and will continue to deprive Baffert of his right to due process of law guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment and of his right to.
bob baffert political affiliation
