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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. Baffert was granted a stay until April 4 to gain time for an appeal. 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 . At the time, she was 42-years-old. The groom denied it. 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.. After Uncle Sam, a 4-year-old colt, died during a workout at the track the following January, a vet wrote: This is the 3rd for this owner/trainer in about as many months collapsed and died.. In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. 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. . Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. 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. This included Baffert's home track at Santa Anita, although Baffert horse Shaaz won the sixth race on April 2. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. 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 won his first race on that 1970 afternoon but not as a trainer. The Post reported this month that Arthur had previously studied a spate of sudden horse deaths in Bafferts barn. After the Times broke the news of the positive drug test, Ruis sued the CHRB in January 2020. On July 15, 2020, Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen sent his initial case assessment to Brodnik. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. Arthur, the equine medical director, took issue with Petersens legal finding that the CHRBs handling of the case could be declared arbitrary or capricious. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. Hes won seven, more than anyone else in the 147-year history of the race. 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. 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. He's saddled. 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. 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. 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. Thats the only time I ever had to deal with somebody who tried to go to federal court to stop a state administrative action., Finally, in 2005, after the matter had returned to state court, the CHRB dismissed the suspension after an administrative law judge concluded Baffert had nothing to gain and a great deal to lose by the use of a banned substance on this horse., Baffert further solidified his influence in the ensuing years. Clark Brewster, a nationally known trial attorney who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her defamation suit against President Trump, will be Bafferts attorney in any litigation against Churchill Downs. Gray said at the time that the bill also would increase the institutional knowledge of Californias central horse drug-testing lab. 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. It takes only a minute or so to walk from the racetrack at Santa Anita Park to the barns in back. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. He was born on January 13, 1953, in Nogales, AZ. And because of that, he has become arrogant as hell. 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." Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. Its all because of his success.. By then, Justify had won the Triple Crown, one of the rarest achievements in sports. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. 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.. Bob Baffert has taken up more of my time than I ever should have had to deal with, Arthur said, before again coming to the defense of Bafferts treatment of his horses: He certainly puts the pedal to the metal, but he doesnt close his eyes. 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. And Bafferts veterinarians were prescribing it at his request without conducting laboratory tests to see whether the horses needed the drug, according to Arthurs later report. Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? Officials worked to clear Bob Baffert's Justify after Triple Crown run Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. The drug was again betamethasone, and Baffert again expressed shock and vowed to clear his name. Bob Baffert suspended from home of Kentucky Derby after Medina - CNN 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. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. I dont see somebody who is doping horses, Martin said after reviewing Bafferts drug-related history. But in this case, Arthur urged a lighter penalty based on his suggestion the CHRB downgrade the drug. It didnt take Baffert long to dominate Rillito Park and Prescott Downs in Arizona. 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 often speaks of his life as if its a Shakespearean play, humankinds tragedies mingling with his own existential crises. 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. Share on Facebook TWEET This This was fun. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. Real Quiet won the Preakness as well, but, like Silver Charm, the horse was denied a Triple Crown win and finished second in the Belmont Stakes by a nose. EXPLAINER: Why is Bob Baffert not in the Kentucky Derby? - Spectrum News 1 The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc. in federal court to end his suspension. 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. Arthur suggested the board retroactively apply it to the Justify case. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. 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.. Regardless, the indictments appeared to sway Baffert, whose opinion piece in The Post supported drastic action to fix a broken system. Among the provisions in the federal legislation that Baffert supported is a phaseout of Lasix on race day a reform Baffert had opposed for years. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. The colt lost the Belmont Stakes after breaking poorly from the starting gate. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Churchill Downs goes after suspended trainer Bob Baffert with new policy. To the newspaper, she. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. Drop dead while galloping, read a California Horse Racing Board vets account of the first horses death in November 2011. Some of the earlier violations do give you pause. The testing levels have become ridiculous, Baffert told a conference of racehorse veterinarians during his keynote speech in 2000, according to a trade publication. The Kentucky Derby winner is staying ahead of . He has won the Kentucky Derby five times. 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. On May 5, Justify won the Kentucky Derby, upping the stakes of the investigation. Petersen noted that in a previous case the board had exonerated the trainers of three horses who had tested positive for scopolamine, finding the flunked tests were a result of Jimson weed. 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. 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. [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. Hollywood Park closed in 2013, and the saga of the dead horses there faded quickly from the headlines. Per Baffert, barn staff including grooms, were involved in administering the thyroxine in feed.. It bothers me when hes not considered the Kentucky Derby winner.. Bob Baffert - Bio, News, Photos - Washington Times A New York federal judge on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 nullified the suspension of horse trainer Bob Baffert, finding that the New York Racing Association acted unconstitutionally by failing to let him adequately respond to claims made against him after Kentucky . 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. 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 trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef. After Arthur cleared Baffert of wrongdoing, the legislation was abandoned. The rise and fall of Jorge Navarro, the alleged doping king of horse racing. Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified for a medication violation. Trump: Kentucky Derby Controversy 'Emblematic of What Is - Newsmax It basically said something under his control is associated with these fatalities, Arthur said, but regulators couldnt act without evidence of a rules violation. Obviously if we can get the Kentucky case resolved, Arkansas will have the benefit of knowing that result before a final decision is made in that case. In fact, at some point Id like to get back together with Bob, Shah said. American Pharoah next won the 140th Preakness Stakes, making six victories in that race for Baffert, who also finished fourth with Dortmund. Kaleem Shah, an owner who split with Baffert in 2016, defended the trainer over the horse deaths. In 2021, the post-race test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit showed 21pg/mL of betamethasone. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. Medina Spirit had a legal medication in him, ONeill said. 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. A CHRB spokesman said the agency could not comment or make any employees available for an interview, citing the pending litigation. 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 board followed their recommendation. Baffert was fined $10,000. On June 2, with the Belmont Stakes a week away, the owner of a feed operation showed up at the CHRB office carrying plant samples he said he found more than a month earlier, the records show. The week after Justify won the Preakness, bringing him to the cusp of the Triple Crown, test results came back showing the plant they had tested was milkweed. His white hair, tinted glasses and accessibility make him a natural to promote the sport. But Clark Brewster, the attorney representing Medina Spirits owner, Amr Zedan, then contacted The Post and described Baffert as being unfairly maligned. It wasnt long before Baffert was making pocket change riding the horses in match races. Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. The trainer was fined $2,500. Baffert has paid out over $20,000 in fines, but compared against over $321 million in career earnings. ), 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. . The substance was indeed Jimson weed. Bafferts attorney argued in court that the trainers May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. [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. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Grays successful election committee. 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.. As he did so, a political group with Baffert on its board was involved in legislation that would result in Arthur losing his job. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. 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. 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. Baffert parlayed a hobby as a 5-foot-9 jockey into a job as a quarter-horse conditioner into a career as a thoroughbred trainer before jumping onto the highest pedestal of horse racing and becoming the most recognizable name in the sport. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. You wouldnt know it now.. Justify faced disqualification from his victory in the Santa Anita Derby that would cost his owners a partnership of wealthy interests their share of the $600,000 first-place purse. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. Hes always wanted to be a rock star and some people dont think racing should have one.. But that number may drop to six if the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission disqualifies this years winner, Medina Spirit, for a medication violation, the trainers fifth since May 2020. . Arkansas racing officials vote not to suspend Bob Baffert - ESPN.com In 2000, for instance, another of his horses, Nautical Look, tested positive for morphine, landing Baffert a two-month suspension. Arthur called Bafferts blanket use of thyroxine troublesome and said at the meeting, I havent found an example of a barn that uses it in all their horses like Baffert does. Yet he determined that the drug wasnt to blame for the deaths. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. Baffert sued in federal court, claiming the two months off could cost him $11 million in purses. The lawyers said that taking into account Bafferts estimate of how many horses he has in his care, a count that differs from the starts data, the number of deaths of horses in Bobs barn is consistent with what would normally be expected from the horse population in general. Starts are regularly used, including by the CHRB, to study the death rates of a trainer. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said. On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. Early life and career [ edit] Bob Baffert wins big in return from long suspension - Spectrum News 1 This pattern has bred frustration among some horsemen. 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. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) A federal judge denied Bob Baffert's request to lift his two-year suspension by Churchill Downs Inc., ruling Friday that the Hall of Fame trainer did not prove its. 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. 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. Shah said the two parted over disagreements that should have been resolved, without being specific. Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. 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. There were at least 39 trainers with more fatalities to their name than Baffert during that period. 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. Hal Earnhardt, an Arizona car dealer and Bafferts oldest client, introduced him to Pegram, who made his money in fast-food franchising. The bottom line, he said, is if youre a horse in Bob Bafferts barn, youre there to work.. After the test result was revealed, Mick Ruis, the trainer and owner of the Santa Anita Derbys runner-up, sued the CHRB, claiming Justifys win should have been erased. Medina Spirit departed Churchill Downs in a van before dawn on Monday, bound for Baltimore (a horse van, not Jeff Spicoli's VW bus ). The last stand of Bob Baffert, horse racing's top trainer - Los Angeles Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. Between 1997 and 1999, he won the Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer three years running and was voted the 1997 Big Sport of Turfdom Award. Medina Spirit died after a training session on 6 December 2021 and an ensuing necropsy on 11 February 2022 was inconclusive. His last day as medical equine director is Wednesday. He has also won the Preakness Stakes five times and the Belmont Stakes once. Scopolamine, Baedeker wrote, can be injected but very often is the result of feed or straw that has been contaminated with Jimson weed., Arthur had previously suggested he didnt consider Jimson weed contamination to be a serious threat, writing in a 2016 memo that the likelihood under our current procedures of getting a positive from environmental contamination is rather low. In an interview this week, Arthur said he meant that such incidences were infrequent but said that in California, if you have a scopolamine positive, its going to be associated with Jimson weed thats just the reality of it., On April 26, records show, Arthur emailed CHRB officials that he had talked to Bob and informed him the proceedings would not immediately interfere with Justifys Triple Crown schedule. [42][44] A friend of Baffert's and an inductee into the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame, Adair died on Preakness Day, May 16, 2015, at 71. 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. 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. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. Robert A. Baffert is an American Racehorse Trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. 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. Bob Baffert: Judge denies his request to lift two-year Churchill Downs Bell told an investigator he then checked other bales and found a branch and pods he thought were Jimson weed in the parking lot.