Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified for a medication violation. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. For every Baffert defender, you can find someone on the other side. In the 1980s, Baffert moved to California and worked at Los Alamitos Race Course, where he switched to training Thoroughbreds full-time in 1991. On the morning of this years Kentucky Derby, he was going through his list of past Kentucky Derby winners and should-have-been winners, and dismissed Medina Spirit as not the best horse in the race. Things would have been so much simpler if the horse had not won the race. [13] In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. He built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. 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.. You wouldnt know it now.. 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 . He has won the Kentucky Derby five times. His most serious infraction was also his first. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. 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. Early life and career [ edit] 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. 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.. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second. 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. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. 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. 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. [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. (The trainer and jockey usually get 10 percent each.) Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. 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. Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. [31][32] Additional charges were added on January 3, 2022. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. 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. Arthur B. Hancock III, a prominent thoroughbred owner, has for three decades been a leading proponent for eradicating drugs from the sport. Nine died in 2000, all but one from breakdowns. Baffert is a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and has several top prospects for the May 5 race. He has won the Kentucky Oaks three times: first in 1999 with Silverbulletday, who was later selected for the Hall of Fame, then with Plum Pretty in 2011 and with Abel Tasman in 2017. The lawyer wrote there is evidence suggesting that this matter was handled differently.. Arthur suggested the board retroactively apply it to the Justify case. Hollendorfers lawyer, Drew Couto, has claimed his client is being unfairly blamed for a high-profile spike of deaths at the track. 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. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. 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. Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. In that period, 36% of all cardiac related horse deaths in California were animals trained by Baffert. 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][4], Baffert established his early reputation with less expensive horses like Silver Charm and Real Quiet, bought for $16,500 and $17,000 respectively. The veterinarian chalked up Bafferts response to ignorance. 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. He will rub people the wrong way by speaking his mind, sometimes he needs to hit the mute button. The goal, the people familiar said, was to get Baffert to support languishing reforms in the sport. CHRB brass agreed to follow Arthurs suggestion. A recent conversation about the tragedy of horse deaths wended its way back to the defense of his reputation. Hes good.. Arthur also presented exercise histories for the horses that showed they worked harder than average. But after learning that Justify and another Baffert horse had tested positive for the same drug, Arthur announced in an e-mail to CHRB officials: The scopolamine cases will be handled differently than usual. Arthur said in a recent interview that he was referring to the logistics of what was clearly going to be a high-profile case that needed to be handled carefully.. By then, Justify had won the Triple Crown, one of the rarest achievements in sports. But by August, the plan had changed. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. And Ive warned them that this was not going to stay a secret at the time, he testified of the CHRB, but that was their decision, not mine. (Baedeker, who retired last year, told The Post they couldnt legally disclose the test results because CHRB did not file a complaint.). [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. It basically said something under his control is associated with these fatalities, Arthur said, but regulators couldnt act without evidence of a rules violation. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. "We live in a different world now. He declined to answer further questions. In the case of Bafferts recent horse deaths, the records list a typical blend of drugs that have been allowed under certain thresholds, most frequently the anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone (or bute to horsemen) and furosemide (also known as Lasix), which is said to decrease bleeding from a horses lungs. But the scuttled test result remained secret until the New York Times reported it in 2019. None of them are considered performance-enhancing in the traditional sense, such as amphetamines or speedballs. 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. As the trainer battles to protect his legacy, the records offer a new window into how those charged with running horse racings disjointed regulatory system have appeared to treat the powerful trainer with deference. 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. [39] California's equine medical director found that Baffert's horses were routinely given Thyro-L, or thyroxine, a thyroid hormone, that could cause heart problems during exercise, but concluded the medication, which Baffert said he had been using routinely for the previous five years, did not cause the heart attacks. 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. Former Democratic congressman Dennis Cardoza, also on the board, was co-owner with Pegram of Shakin It Up, a successful thoroughbred trained by Baffert. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks . Being a horse trainer is tough enough because its such an up-and-down, emotional roller coaster, Baffert said. That didnt feel appropriate to those of who wanted to see science prevail, Cardoza said. 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 . Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. (Pegram and Auerbach did not respond to interview requests. 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. The winner's share of the $600 purse was $330. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. Bafferts attorney argued in court that the trainers May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. 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. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. The New York Racing Assn. Its bizarre, Baedeker said, because you have a deputy attorney general criticizing the board for following the law to the letter.. The board agreed not to disqualify Justify. 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. [8] His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphene, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years. 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. In the court of public opinion, hes a big loser, said Barry Irwin, owner of racing group Team Valor and an outspoken critic of race-day medication and Baffert. 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. 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. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. 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. Despite the cautious approach of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which five months later still has not acted on the drug positive, or disqualified, Medina Spirit, Churchill Downs suspended the trainer for two years. 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. 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 . 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. However, Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. 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. Hollywood Park closed in 2013, and the saga of the dead horses there faded quickly from the headlines. 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. 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. Baffert grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona, where his family raised cattle and chickens. The TOC, of which Baffert is still a board member, did not respond to requests for comment. Earlier data was unreliable, the racing publication said. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. That was one of the most exciting and enjoyable Derbies, Baffert said. Baedeker this week acknowledged that they handled the process more slowly than usual. Baffert revisited the Derby the next year, sending two top colts, Real Quiet and Indian Charlie, to Louisville. 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. 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. The way this case was handled was out of respect for Justify., On the afternoon of April 18, 2018, Arthur learned that Justify and another Baffert horse, Hoppertunity, had tested positive for scopolamine. [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. [18] Baffert responded by saying the situation "was like a cancel culture kind of a thing," a remark which earned him noticeable criticism from the press. Racing does not have a historical database for violations, with most of the information kept on the state level. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. Pegram persuaded Baffert to try thoroughbreds. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. 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 . Drop dead while galloping, read a California Horse Racing Board vets account of the first horses death in November 2011. 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.