It was later discovered that horses from separate barns had also tested positive. In a written decision, the stewards stated the CHRB has already ruled on this matter in its August 2018 closed hearing and had followed the law., However, the stewards suggested they would not have made the same decision as the CHRB: It is the Stewards opinion that had this Board of Stewards heard the Justify and Hoppertunity complaints prior to August 23, 2018 both horses would have been disqualified., Ruiss lawyers have since argued in court for the settlement to be rescinded because the stewards refused to make a decision on the merits., I remain convinced that justice has not yet been served, Vienna told The Post, and that hopefully the courts will resolve the matter., The rise and fall of Jorge Navarro, the alleged doping king of horse racing. The veterinarian chalked up Bafferts response to ignorance. The public backlash, including a letter written by a gay. There wasnt any question in my mind, he said recently. 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 . The majority of the deaths in Bafferts care are attributed to breakdowns, though others have died suddenly without explanation and some of the horses suffered illness including his most recent death, Noodles, in May where pneumonia was the suspected cause. In the next six months, three of his horses tested positive for banned or excessive substances four times in California, Arkansas and Kentucky. CHRB regulations state that its foreign substances guidelines are based on ARCI recommendations as modified by the state board. That investigation led to the indictments that Baffert said spurred him to embrace more oversight, so the cheaters would be quickly caught and punished.. 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. Bob Baffert: Hall of Fame trainer suspended from participating in - CNN The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. 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. The substance was indeed Jimson weed. Bob Baffert: Judge denies his request to lift two-year Churchill Downs The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. The dark side of Bob Baffert's reign. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. They had a son in 2004 whom they named "Bode" (/bodi/ BOH-dee), after skier Bode Miller. He will rub people the wrong way by speaking his mind, sometimes he needs to hit the mute button. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Gray's . 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. Baffert said in his autobiography it was a combination of ignorance and desperation. His last day as medical equine director is Wednesday. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. Political Cartoons. CHRB brass agreed to follow Arthurs suggestion. Gray declined to be interviewed for this story, instead issuing a statement declaring that the personal vendettas of others, perceived or otherwise, play no roll [sic] in the legislation I carry. His spokesman added that campaign contributions do not affect Grays policy proposals. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. 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. Baffert went to federal court and had the suspension overturned, but NYRA has called a scheduling conference on the trainer for Oct. 11. 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. . The trainer was Baffert. 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. In fact, Bafferts horses, at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, have died at a significantly higher rate than Hollendorfers, at 6.25. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. Arthur indicated in his report that thyroxine was suspected to cause heart problems for horses during exercise, and at least four of the sudden deaths involved confirmed or suspected cardiac failure. The owners ultimately abandoned the plan after Bafferts horse, American Pharoah, won the Triple Crown that year, fearing their effort could damage the sport, one of those people said. Two months after Arthur cleared Baffert, the legislation to limit his term died. "[16][17] Nonetheless, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert from entering any horses at their racetrack pending the outcome of an investigation. [citation needed], According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. The board followed their recommendation. In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. And the Breeders Cup, which will be held Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar, has indicated it will soon make a decision on Bafferts eligibility to run in those championship races. The rise and fall of Jorge Navarro, the alleged doping king of horse racing. Its more the friendship that I miss. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. 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. The horse is scheduled to run Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. 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. The attorney generals office referred all questions to the CHRB. In a scheme typical of the high-stakes warring behind the scenes in racing, four thoroughbred owners entered talks in 2015 with a private intelligence agency to dig up drug-related dirt on Baffert, according to multiple people with direct knowledge. In correspondence with the agencys lawyer, Baedeker wrote that because our staff failed to act in a timely manner, the horses, trainer, owner and others could be harmed unjustly if they didnt use the more lenient classification. He saddled Paynter in the Belmont Stakes later that year, but that colt, like his stablemate Bodemeister, finished second. Shah said the two parted over disagreements that should have been resolved, without being specific. Hes the person few in the business want to talk about, but everyone wants to hear about. 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. You wouldnt know it now.. But hes a good person, no, a great person. Medina Spirit died after a training session on 6 December 2021 and an ensuing necropsy on 11 February 2022 was inconclusive. 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. ), 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. But the scuttled test result remained secret until the New York Times reported it in 2019. The way this case was handled was not a favor for Bob Baffert, Arthur said. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. The owner was Kaleem Shah. [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. 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. When I won with [Triple Crown winners] American Pharoah and Justify, it was a relief. The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc. in federal court to end his suspension. 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. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. He was fined $1,500. Were going to get through it.. 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. It was an easy suspension to serve as Baffert was in school and not doing much training. Racing does not have a historical database for violations, with most of the information kept on the state level. A A Former President Donald Trump released a statement Sunday about the disputed winner of the Kentucky Derby, saying the controversy reflects the current state of the country. He finished third in the Derby that year with Congaree. He was born on January 13, 1953, in Nogales, AZ. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. After Arthur cleared Baffert of wrongdoing, the legislation was abandoned. The groom denied it. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. 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. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef. . Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. You could trust him and that never changed.. 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.). 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. 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. EXPLAINER: Why is Bob Baffert not in the Kentucky Derby? - Spectrum News 1 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. He has also won the Preakness Stakes five times and the Belmont Stakes once. 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. Asked whether he was surprised by the finding that Bafferts barn was the deadliest in California, Roberts laughed. The. [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. This was fun. He tried his hand at substitute teaching before he started training horses full time. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. Nonetheless, in that case, Arkansas suspended Baffert for 15 days. One of the biggest assholes and cheats of all time, horse-racing was. 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 wins big in return from long suspension - Spectrum News 1 He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. 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. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. The board agreed not to disqualify Justify. 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. This America's different." pic . It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. Regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert - Los Angeles Times LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. Closing everything and moving forward is in Bobs best interest and the best interest of horse racing. 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. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. Baffert won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem. But in this case, Arthur urged a lighter penalty based on his suggestion the CHRB downgrade the drug. Shortly after Petersen sent the analysis of the states chances, the CHRB agreed to settle Ruiss lawsuit. In the past three years, there were 188 deaths involving either racing or training in California. In a hearing in October, the state and attorneys for Baffert and the horses owners stipulated the scopolamine positive was the result of contamination and it would have no performance-enhancing effects. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . Bob Baffert has supporters and detractors in how he deals with jockeys By John Cherwa Special Contributor Nov. 2, 2016 4:28 PM PT Bob Baffert, still fresh and snappy after hours of morning. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. The deadliest period came between 2000 and 2005, when 34 of Bafferts horses in California died. Bob Baffert says Derby horse Medina Spirit was 'cancelled.' Here's what He got his first big break in 1992 when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews. Gary Fenton, chairman of the TOC, declined to be interviewed. In February 2013, with Bafferts Hollywood Park sudden-death toll at six and Californias equine medical director, Rick Arthur, probing his barns operations, state legislation was introduced that would place term limits on Arthurs position, eventually forcing him out of a $309,000-a-year job. Baffert often speaks of his life as if its a Shakespearean play, humankinds tragedies mingling with his own existential crises. Some of the earlier violations do give you pause. The consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out. And Noodles died May 22 of a non-exercise induced respiratory issue. 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. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. 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. 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.. May 10, 2021. 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. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. . was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. But the overall record indicates that he may not be running as tight a ship as he should.. But its a lot more difficult when going against a private company, such as Churchill Downs, which can invoke its own penalties. Kaleem Shah, an owner who split with Baffert in 2016, defended the trainer over the horse deaths. 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. [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. But Arthurs report said Hollywood Park used a different sort of poison than that found in the necropsy. Its truly painful when you know what the truth is, Baffert told The Times earlier this week in his first interview on the subject since May. Bob had the personality and he was honest. On Monday, Bell confirmed he helped with the search, adding Jimson weed has plagued California for years.. In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. The New York Racing Assn. Its all because of his success.. Rick Baedeker, who was executive director of the CHRB before retiring last year, said the boards decisions were carefully considered to avoid treating Baffert differently than any other trainer. 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. 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. Betamethasone is mostly injected into the joints of horses to ease inflammation and, if the inflammation is reduced, any associated pain subsides. 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. [25][26] On June 14, 2021, Baffert sued the NYRA alleging the association had no authority to suspend his license and that suspension "without prior notice" was a violation of the law. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended from the home of the Kentucky Derby for two years after Medina Spirit's positive post-race drug was confirmed, the company that runs the. Hal Earnhardt, an Arizona car dealer and Bafferts oldest client, introduced him to Pegram, who made his money in fast-food franchising. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. After the Times broke the news of the positive drug test, Ruis sued the CHRB in January 2020. Ruis horse, Bolt dOro, finished second. I dont see somebody who is doping horses, Martin said after reviewing Bafferts drug-related history. Last October Gamine was disqualified from third to last in the Kentucky Oaks after betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory, was discovered in the horses system. Baffert has had two fatalities in the last three years, a low number for a barn of his size. Baffert did not win another classic race until 2001, when he won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with eventual Hall of Fame member Point Given. 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. John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. [13] In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. If the complaint was ruled on quickly enough, it would have made Justify ineligible for the Kentucky Derby. Horse racing needs to cut off the head of the snake, Ruis said. Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension In 2015, Baffert trained the 2014 champion two-year-old colt American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown, the first to do so in 37 years. He built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. Its bizarre, Baedeker said, because you have a deputy attorney general criticizing the board for following the law to the letter.. Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. It didnt take Baffert long to dominate Rillito Park and Prescott Downs in Arizona. A recent conversation about the tragedy of horse deaths wended its way back to the defense of his reputation. 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. Bob survived a heart attack in late March 2012 while in Dubai for a world-class race at Meydan. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. 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. Bob Baffert has moved his way up the ladder to the extent that he has the most influential, the wealthiest owners in the industry, that he takes on the highest-quality horses possible because he wins races. 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. In fact, at some point Id like to get back together with Bob, Shah said. (Pegram and Auerbach did not respond to interview requests. Arthur is retiring at the end of June from a job often consumed by the scandals of a single trainer. He rejoined The Times in 2009 and left his post as deputy sports editor late in 2017. Former client Kaleem Shah said, "He will rub people the wrong way by speaking his mind, sometimes he needs to hit the mute button. And he does know generally when to stop on a horse.. 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. 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 . Arkansas racing officials vote not to suspend Bob Baffert - ESPN.com But in 2018, Arthur was still on the job when another Baffert-trained horse tested regulators willingness to challenge him. Baffert has been married twice and has five children: four with his first wife, Sherry: Taylor, Canyon, Forest, and Savannah. Baffert wants a preliminary injunction that would keep Churchill Downs from denying his horses entry into races there and at Turfway Park, in Florence, Ky., and from "prohibiting him from earning. Bob Baffert | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame But in 2019, he was banned from Santa Anita Park and affiliated tracks after four of his horses died there in six months. Four months after that, in May 2014, Arthur issued an advisory that the CHRB was concerned by the apparently indiscriminate use of thyroxine and that the drug must be prescribed for a specific horse for a specific condition. Arthur told The Post that the advisory was a result of the Baffert investigation. The bottom line, he said, is if youre a horse in Bob Bafferts barn, youre there to work.. 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. But when factoring in the number of races run, Bafferts horses have died at the highest rate of the 10 trainers who have had the most horse deaths. In April, after Arkansas reversed its decision on two Baffert horses and overturned his suspension, trainer Richard Baltas was bad-mouthing Baffert at Clockers Corner, the place where trainers and fans watch horses work in the morning at Santa Anita. 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. 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.. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment.