Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. 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 Baffert and his lawyers had since established a reputation for pugnaciousness when regulators attempted to discipline him. Its bizarre, Baedeker said, because you have a deputy attorney general criticizing the board for following the law to the letter.. Another person who came to Bafferts defense was his former assistant Tim Yakteen, who now runs his own stable. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. We went there with expectations not very high. Medina Spirit died after a training session on 6 December 2021 and an ensuing necropsy on 11 February 2022 was inconclusive. was. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. This article was published more than1 year ago. 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. "What a way to come back," said Baffert, whose punishment by the Kentucky Horse . Some of the horses that have died have been my horses, and on each and every instance, I have spoken to Bob and Ive been more than satisfied with the explanation, Shah said. Both trainers were fined $500. 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. By then, Arthur already had a years-long, tangled history with Baffert. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. Similarly, cases against two horses who tested positive in Arkansas in 2020 for lidocaine were dismissed as being the result of accidental transfer from an assistant trainer who was using the medication on himself. Garcia left California horse racing the next year, according to CHRB records; he could not be reached for comment by The Post. 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. 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. 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. By the April 1 ruling, Baffert had already transferred four 3-year-old colts to other trainers. 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. 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. The Kentucky Derby winner is staying ahead of . He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. Shah said the two parted over disagreements that should have been resolved, without being specific. 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. It was then that Baffert, one of the most accessible trainers in horse racing, stopped talking until this week. But in the most recent election in June, he finished seventh of eight, the only incumbent beaten. The bottom line, he said, is if youre a horse in Bob Bafferts barn, youre there to work.. The testing levels have become ridiculous, Baffert told a conference of racehorse veterinarians during his keynote speech in 2000, according to a trade publication. Baffert was fined $10,000. 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. He built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. When a horse dies in California, CHRB records often list medications the horse had been prescribed, based on its medical history. This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. But until now, those violations, some of which Baffert has succeeded in getting overturned or reduced, have resulted in roughly $20,000 in fines against $321 million in career earnings. 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. In the 1980s, Baffert moved to California and worked at Los Alamitos Race Course, where he switched to training Thoroughbreds full-time in 1991. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. 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. By then, Justify had won the Triple Crown, one of the rarest achievements in sports. The New York Racing Assn. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. 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. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second. [citation needed], According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. 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. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. FILE - In this Monday July 12, 2021 file photo, horse trainer Bob Baffert leaves federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York. In 1977, as a part-time trainer, he was suspended for a year when one of his horses tested positive for morphine. 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. 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. ), Among the TOCs central crusades was countering the movement against Lasix. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. The ARCI rules are recommendations, the associations president, Ed Martin, said in an interview. In 1997 he won his first Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm. CHRB brass agreed to follow Arthurs suggestion. California counts all fatalities of horses in a trainers care, including breakdowns during training, not just racing deaths. 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.. 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. He will rub people the wrong way by speaking his mind, sometimes he needs to hit the mute button. His white hair, tinted glasses and accessibility make him a natural to promote the sport. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. Baedeker this week acknowledged that they handled the process more slowly than usual. 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. 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. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. He started at The Times in 1980 and left in 1995 to be sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Co. sports coordinator in 2002. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. Baffert has had two fatalities in the last three years, a low number for a barn of his size. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. The CHRB ruled it was caused by feed contamination, citing six other horses across four barns who also tested positive. 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. It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. The month after that, Grays bill to limit Arthurs term was passed out of a committee. [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. Ruis is suing the CHRB for absolving Baffert of a positive for scopolamine, a byproduct of jimsonweed, after Justify tested for the drug after winning the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.