bob baffert political affiliation

Churchill Downs announced that any points earned in the leadup to the Kentucky Derby by horses associated with a suspended trainer would not be counted a move that seemingly targets Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. 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. And promote he does, chatting with people he met one minute ago as if they were long-lost friends. 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. 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. 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. [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. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our equine and human athletes, Baffert wrote, and nothing impacts their health and safety more than the policies and procedures concerning drugs.. The colt went on to win the Preakness Stakes, giving the trainer his third shot at winning the Triple Crown. When the CHRB also decided to run DNA tests on the horses blood samples, the records show Arthur said the request would be a big deal and asked if they could wait until after the Preakness, which was 10 days away. Hes good.. Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate him, Pegram said. [45], Last edited on 11 February 2023, at 14:09, American Pharoah Stakes / FrontRunner Stakes / Norfolk Stakes, Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes / Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap, Los Alamitos Futurity / Hollywood Futurity, Starlet Stakes / Hollywood Starlet Stakes, United States Champion Trainer by earnings, American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse, American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, "Bob Baffert Has Come a Long Way in Horse Racing", "Baffert nears $300M mark with an all-star stable", "American Pharoah claims first Triple Crown since 1978", "Bob Baffert no stranger to failed drug tests by his horses", "Press Release Racing Museum April 20, 2009", "The last stand of Bob Baffert, horse racing's most successful and embattled trainer", "Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win in doubt after postrace drug test", "Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Withdrawal Guidelines Thoroughbred; Standardbred; Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, and Arabian", "Baffert: Meds applied to Derby winner had steroid", "Medina Spirit Tests Positive for Betamethasone", "Baffert says Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive", "Churchill Downs' Statement in Response to Medina Spirit's Post-Race Test Result Allegations", "Trainer: Kentucky Derby winner faces disqualification due to 'cancel culture', "Bob Baffert asserts Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win was valid, invokes 'cancel culture', "Bob Baffert says Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with ointment that contained steroid", "Baffert Has Turned Medina Spirit Controversy Into a Circus", "Baffert's Leaking Credibility Reaches Saturation Point", "Churchill Downs Inc. suspends Baffert for 2 years", "Trainer Bob Baffert suspended from entering Medina Spirit, other horses at Belmont Park", "New York Racing Officials Suspend Baffert From Belmont Stakes", "Trainer Bob Baffert sues to get New York suspension lifted", "Horse trainer Bob Baffert sues New York racing officials over suspension", "Baffert sues to overturn New York racing ban", "Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert's NY suspension", "Baffert charged by New York Racing, scheduled for hearing", "Legendary horse trainer charged again following Kentucky Derby scandal", "NYRA Amends Charges Against Baffert to Include Bute Overages", "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest", "Bob Baffert fined $1,500, Gamine disqualified from third-place finish in Kentucky Oaks", "Here's what we know following Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's positive drug test", "Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack at Santa Anita", "Baffert Horses Big Part of Sudden Death Spike", "Report on the investigation and review of the seven sudden deaths on the Hollywood Park main track of horses trained by Bob Baffert and stabled in Barn 61", "Cardiac Failure Fatalities Spike in California, Baffert Barn", "Bafferts Make Whopper Of A Donation To Equine Charities", "Bafferts, Espinoza donate Belmont winnings", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Baffert&oldid=1138770123, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 14:09. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. Yeah, but thats what drives him. 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. Following the 2015 Belmont win, Baffert outlined several charities that he and his wife Jill supported. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. The public backlash, including a letter written by a gay. On May 5, Justify won the Kentucky Derby, upping the stakes of the investigation. [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. Baffert told investigators he used the drug for about five years to build up his horses, which Arthur noted was unusual because it was typically used to slim them down. The 77-year-old billionaire made headlines last year when he made a $10,000 contribution to opponents of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. The. Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. The previous August, Bob Baffert Racing Stables had donated $1,000 to the TOCs political action committee, California records show. 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. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. 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. Nothing is held back.. Like Baffert, Hollendorfer is in the thoroughbred Hall of Fame. That investigation led to the indictments that Baffert said spurred him to embrace more oversight, so the cheaters would be quickly caught and punished.. Darrell Vienna, Ruiss attorney, said he would not have agreed to those stipulations but was not allowed to intervene. Medina Spirit died after a training session on 6 December 2021 and an ensuing necropsy on 11 February 2022 was inconclusive. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . Many in the racing world wondered how many times can the dog eat your homework? But hes Bob, he has to speak his mind.. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. In the 1980s, Baffert moved to California and worked at Los Alamitos Race Course, where he switched to training Thoroughbreds full-time in 1991. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. This America's different." pic . But even in those cases, which were handled according to established rules, the horses were disqualified and their winning purses were forfeited. Baffert says he plans to seek legal recourse wherever necessary. Hospital food is a punchline. Baffert revisited the Derby the next year, sending two top colts, Real Quiet and Indian Charlie, to Louisville. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. He rejoined The Times in 2009 and left his post as deputy sports editor late in 2017. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. In each instance, the death is investigated. But Arthurs report said Hollywood Park used a different sort of poison than that found in the necropsy. State investigators found that his staff was mixing a potentially dangerous prescription drug into the feed of every horse in his care. His reasoning was that Baffert also administered thyroxine to horses outside of Hollywood Park, where his horses did not suffer sudden deaths. 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. The testing levels have become ridiculous, Baffert told a conference of racehorse veterinarians during his keynote speech in 2000, according to a trade publication. He has won the Kentucky Derby five times. 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. Has his success made people hate him more? Kentucky regulators taped calls without consent with Baffert after Medina Spirit test. The ARCI rules are recommendations, the associations president, Ed Martin, said in an interview. Arthur and CHRB investigators inspected Bafferts barn, reviewed veterinary records and interviewed Baffert, who was flanked by an attorney. In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. The 5-year-old mare was the seventh seemingly healthy horse from that barn to drop dead in 16 months. 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. 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. Baffert, however, wouldnt change the outcome. Once the golden boy of horse racing, Bob Baffert now the face of its disgrace. 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. ), Arthur has defended his handling of the Justify positive. You could trust him and that never changed.. See, I bet you didnt know I was a jockey? Baffert said. 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. 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. Federal prosecutors had just indicted more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians and others on charges related to doping horses, a seismic event in a sport already reeling from a well-publicized spate of horse deaths and perpetually dwindling revenue. John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. This pattern has bred frustration among some horsemen. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks . By age 20, he had developed a reputation as a trainer and was hired by other trainers to run their stables. His most serious infraction was also his first. Its not uncommon to find trainers who dont understand medications and how different medications work, Arthur said. Nonetheless, in that case, Arkansas suspended Baffert for 15 days. 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. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. Baffert has also had his share of horse fatalities, the other metric to which his critics point. 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. [citation needed], According to his supporters, Baffert's style and personality, combined with his success, have made him a target for controversy. Baffert was fined $10,000. He followed it with six more Derbies, two of which launched Triple Crown runs, with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. 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. 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 Jockey Club has a database of thoroughbred breakdowns meaning deaths stemming from track injuries but said it is barred from sharing its data because of its contracts with racetracks. The consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out. After winning the Santa Anita Derby in April of that year, Bafferts Justify tested positive for scopolamine, a banned substance, which normally would have disqualified the victory and made the horse ineligible to run in that years Kentucky Derby. Arthur said the TOC was behind the effort to oust him because of his criticism of Lasix. 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. . 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. [15], At a news conference on May 9, Baffert initially said that Medina Spirit was never administered betamethasone. He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas. Arthur is the CHRBs primary advisor on drug testing, according to state code; the role of determining penalties in individual cases falls to its stewards and commissioners. Bell told an investigator he then checked other bales and found a branch and pods he thought were Jimson weed in the parking lot. He's saddled. He claimed that the horse death data provided by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was not possible.. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. 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. In July 2020, Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough medicine. Bob Baffert wakes up most every day with one thing in mind, winning another Kentucky Derby. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. [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. Were going to get through it.. 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. [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. At the time, she was 42-years-old. Brodnik presented the board with a two-page memo stating an extensive investigation was conducted and the evidence proves that this was an environmental contamination incident. Baedeker and Arthur recommended the pending matters against Baffert be dismissed, according to the states legal analysis. 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. 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. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. Baffert's horses have won seven Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes and three Kentucky Oaks. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. The CHRB officially opened an investigation. Bafferts breakthrough thoroughbred was Thirty Slews, who won the Breeders Cup Sprint in 1992. The timing of the legislation was coincidental, he added: I understand where youre going and why, but there were no connections, from my perspective., Brewster, attorney for Medina Spirits owner, also said that Bafferts issue with Arthur was about Lasix and that the timing was irrelevant.. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. This time, he aided the CHRBs search for Jimson weed. 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. 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. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. But they dont usually die in a cluster from a single barn for no clear reason. It wasn't long after the running of the 123rd Kentucky Derby, where a grey . Yeah, sure, hes a wiseass and irreverent. 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.. This was fun. 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. 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. He declined to answer further questions. 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. It basically said something under his control is associated with these fatalities, Arthur said, but regulators couldnt act without evidence of a rules violation. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. [8] As of 1January2022[update] the question of whether the horse would join Dancer's Image by being disqualified for a drug violation in the Derby remains pending. 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. 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. The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. One of his grooms, Clemintino Abrego Garcia, testified that Baffert called him three or four times attempting to get him to admit that he had eaten baked goods near the horse. 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 . Medina Spirit had a legal medication in him, ONeill said. Baffert made the. For every Baffert defender, you can find someone on the other side. 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. Instead of promptly filing a public complaint against Baffert, the CHRB kept the positive result secret while Arthur conducted a lengthy investigation. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. 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. [43] At the post-Belmont press conference, Baffert announced he and his wife would be making donations of $50,000 each to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), and Old Friends Equine, all programs for retired race horses; and to the Permanently Disabled Jockey's Fund in memory of a Quarter Horse Jockey named Robert Z. The month after that, Grays bill to limit Arthurs term was passed out of a committee. 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. 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. Communication Challenges In A Global Atmosphere, Articles B