Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? None of them are considered performance-enhancing in the traditional sense, such as amphetamines or speedballs. 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. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. Several members of the Breeders Cup board have used Baffert as their trainer. Closing everything and moving forward is in Bobs best interest and the best interest of horse racing. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. He won his first race on that 1970 afternoon but not as a trainer. Two months after Arthur cleared Baffert, the legislation to limit his term died. Bob Baffert Family, Parents I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. 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. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. [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. Baffert has been married twice and has five children: four with his first wife, Sherry: Taylor, Canyon, Forest, and Savannah. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. to move forward. Petersen did not respond to an interview request. He has not been in alliance with us, said Hancock, mentioning Bafferts many positive tests and then listing top trainers who have had one or zero positives in their career. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. Baedeker this week acknowledged that they handled the process more slowly than usual. 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. [19][20] On May 11, Baffert stated Medina Spirit had dermatitis, for which an ointment containing betamethasone was used. According to protocols, the medication is supposed to have a 14-day withdrawal period. The testing levels have become ridiculous, Baffert told a conference of racehorse veterinarians during his keynote speech in 2000, according to a trade publication. After the Times broke the news of the positive drug test, Ruis sued the CHRB in January 2020. This whole thing is ridiculous, Baffert texted back, according to messages obtained by The Post via public records request. "We live in a different world now. A recent conversation about the tragedy of horse deaths wended its way back to the defense of his reputation. Nothing is held back.. 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. [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. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. 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. 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. 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. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. 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. He was fined $1,500. Were going to get through it.. In his claustrophobic and cluttered office at Santa Anita Barn 5, Bob Baffert, the hall of fame trainer, was pushing papers and moving stacks, hunting for a faded photo of his 17-year-old self aboard a long-forgotten quarter horse from a small racing circuit in Arizona. But he said it wasnt clear from the records why the CHRB reversed course on filing a complaint against Baffert. 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. When asked about that plan, attorney Brewster said that in fact 5 Stones did investigate Baffert at the direction of the Jockey Club. "We live in a different world now. Tinsley declined to comment. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. 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. But hes Bob, he has to speak his mind.. In 2012, Baffert saddled Bodemeister, named for the trainer's youngest son, Bode, to second-place finishes in the Derby and Preakness. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. [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. It bothers me when hes not considered the Kentucky Derby winner.. California keeps track of horse deaths by trainer, but there are errors and limits to the data. Most were for excessive use of phenylbutazone, a commonly used anti-inflammatory known as bute. He appeared in an episode of the TV show Take Home Chef. 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. The bottom line, he said, is if youre a horse in Bob Bafferts barn, youre there to work.. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. 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. It was later discovered that horses from separate barns had also tested positive. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. Baffert often speaks of his life as if its a Shakespearean play, humankinds tragedies mingling with his own existential crises. 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. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. The board followed their recommendation. ), Arthur has defended his handling of the Justify positive. Gray said at the time that the bill also would increase the institutional knowledge of Californias central horse drug-testing lab. Grays office told the committee that removing Dr. Arthur from his position, while intentional, is not the sole purpose of the bill, records show. 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. The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. Arthur also presented exercise histories for the horses that showed they worked harder than average. Baffert grew up on a cattle and chicken farm in Nogales, Ariz., near the Mexico border. The CHRB ruled it was caused by feed contamination, citing six other horses across four barns who also tested positive. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. 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. Garcia left California horse racing the next year, according to CHRB records; he could not be reached for comment by The Post. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. His white hair, tinted glasses and accessibility make him a natural to promote the sport. Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. 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. Four months later, during a confidential executive session, Arthur and CHRB Director Rick Baedeker recommended that the commissioners not move forward with the disqualification of Justify, arguing that the scopolamine positive was probably the result of contamination from jimson weed. The. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. 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. 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. Baffert did not have another medication violation for eight years. But Baffert and his lawyers had since established a reputation for pugnaciousness when regulators attempted to discipline him. It didnt take Baffert long to dominate Rillito Park and Prescott Downs in Arizona. Instead of promptly filing a public complaint against Baffert, the CHRB kept the positive result secret while Arthur conducted a lengthy investigation. No sanctions were issued against Baffert.[40][41]. [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. Arthur said the TOC was behind the effort to oust him because of his criticism of Lasix. Asked whether he was surprised by the finding that Bafferts barn was the deadliest in California, Roberts laughed. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. Its so obvious. He views himself as an ambassador for the sport. He paused, then added: Ive learned who my friends are.. And he does know generally when to stop on a horse.. We live and work in a fishbowl, with rumors and accusations flowing constantly, Baffert said. Its all because of his success.. 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. Baffert failed in multiple attempts in Kentucky to overturn the track's ban or the start of his suspension, which began April 4. Citrus Feed Companys Larry Bell has long supplied Baffert with feed and has previously testified in Bafferts defense, according to CHRB records. He was born on January 13, 1953, in Nogales, AZ. But a top veterinary official cleared Baffert, finding that the spate of deaths remains unexplained following a probe that demonstrated the hazards of going after Baffert. 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. Hes won seven, more than anyone else in the 147-year history of the race. The goal, the people familiar said, was to get Baffert to support languishing reforms in the sport. When I won with [Triple Crown winners] American Pharoah and Justify, it was a relief. The New York Racing Assn. 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. LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. High Connection won the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby by 1 3/4 lengths Saturday, giving trainer Bob Baffert his second victory on the card in his return to competition after serving a 90-day suspension. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. 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. Baffert said the horse ingested hay after a groom, who was taking cough medicine, had urinated in the horses stall. In 2015, the Daily Herald ran a profile on Jill Baffert, explaining that she was a former journalist and waitress from Centerville. This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown, Arthur said. Per Baffert, barn staff including grooms, were involved in administering the thyroxine in feed.. There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isnt even done yet. Both trainers were fined $500. He acknowledged there was no way to determine if that bale was part of the delivery to Baffert, according to the records, but the CHRB investigator nonetheless submitted the sample for testing. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Grays successful election committee. 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. 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. You could trust him and that never changed.. In the next six months, three of his horses tested positive for banned or excessive substances four times in California, Arkansas and Kentucky. Arthur is retiring at the end of June from a job often consumed by the scandals of a single trainer. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Churchill Downs goes after suspended trainer Bob Baffert with new policy. 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. [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. Horse-racing deaths, like much of the sport, are shrouded by a disjointed bureaucracy. But even in those cases, which were handled according to established rules, the horses were disqualified and their winning purses were forfeited. 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. There were at least 39 trainers with more fatalities to their name than Baffert during that period. Hes Mr. Teflon.. 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. 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. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. Baffert sued in federal court, claiming the two months off could cost him $11 million in purses. 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. Hell do anything to win, and hes got all his bases covered politically, Barry Irwin, owner of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, said of 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. I went under the radar. By age 20, he had developed a reputation as a trainer and was hired by other trainers to run their stables. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. It was an easy suspension to serve as Baffert was in school and not doing much training. 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. American Pharoah next won the 140th Preakness Stakes, making six victories in that race for Baffert, who also finished fourth with Dortmund. 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. Decorated racehorse trainer who won multiple Kentucky Derbies, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. I felt that we wouldve been dumping this in their lap, that we wouldve been putting them in an unfair position, and that we needed to go ahead and do the difficult thing, quite frankly, which is take responsibility for the decision, Baedeker said. 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. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. This time, he aided the CHRBs search for Jimson weed. In 1977, as a part-time trainer, he was suspended for a year when one of his horses tested positive for morphine. 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. 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. Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky, co-owned by Mike Pegram, to win the Preakness Stakes in 2010. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. Bob Bafferts horses have incurred numerous drug violations over the course of his 44 years as a thoroughbred trainer. Baffert's attorney argued in court that the trainer's May suspension by the New York Racing Assn.