bob baffert political affiliation
Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. State investigators found that his staff was mixing a potentially dangerous prescription drug into the feed of every horse in his care. When Did threshold change and what were they before?, No amount of betamethasone is permitted in Kentucky races now, Borden wrote. He's a cheat and an asshole, and I hope Medina Spirit gets taken down and his connections are denied the $1.8 million first-place check. It wasn't long after the running of the 123rd Kentucky Derby, where a grey . 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. John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. Former Democratic congressman Dennis Cardoza, also on the board, was co-owner with Pegram of Shakin It Up, a successful thoroughbred trained by Baffert. 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. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. But the overall record indicates that he may not be running as tight a ship as he should.. The testing levels have become ridiculous, Baffert told a conference of racehorse veterinarians during his keynote speech in 2000, according to a trade publication. As he did so, a political group with Baffert on its board was involved in legislation that would result in Arthur losing his job. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. According to protocols, the medication is supposed to have a 14-day withdrawal period. 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. And because of that, he has become arrogant as hell. CHRB brass agreed to follow Arthurs suggestion. Baffert dedicated American Pharoah's win to Bobby. Bob Baffert - Celebnetworth.net 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. 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 built up his training business a step at a time and acquired some prominent owners. The month after Gray introduced his legislation, Bafferts seventh sudden death made the deaths at Hollywood Park a national news story. In 2015, he trained American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.. Arthur B. Hancock III, a prominent thoroughbred owner, has for three decades been a leading proponent for eradicating drugs from the sport. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. Its just disheartening. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. 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. A court, the states lawyer wrote, could find that the CHRB abused its discretion and acted in a manner that was arbitrary, capricious, or entirely lacking in evidentiary support.. He also dismissed complaints that doping was rampant in the sport. Share on Facebook TWEET This Hearing Officer Recommends 2-Year NYRA Ban for Bob Baffert He won his first race on that 1970 afternoon but not as a trainer. It then changed the classification of scopolamine so that its detection in a horse would trigger only a fine and not disqualification and loss of the races purse. Horse racing needs to cut off the head of the snake, Ruis said. The 74 total deaths since 2000 put Baffert third among trainers. 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. 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. 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. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Testimonies have begun in the case of horse trainer Bob Baffert against Churchill Downs. 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. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. In more than four decades in the sport, Baffert has faced significant regulatory scrutiny because of a high death rate only once, after seven of his horses collapsed in a short period of time at the same California track. In 2007, he joined the 15-member board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), a nonprofit that represents the roughly 9,000 CHRB-licensed owners in the state. Bob Baffert - Wikipedia What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. A week after that, Baffert learned of the positive test. No sanctions were issued against Baffert.[40][41]. 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. Baffert said the horse was off the drug for 18 days before the race. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. 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. 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. With private eyes and political muscle, horse racings elite pushed to punish dopers, Throughout the months-long process, CHRB officials had indicated they planned on filing a complaint against Baffert, which would have exposed the failed drug test. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. Baffert faces unprecedented scrutiny after a positive drug test marred a win by his horse Medina Spirit at this years Kentucky Derby. 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.. 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. Horse owner and racing reform advocate Barry Irwin has stated, "He's Mr. Bob Baffert wins big in return from long suspension - Spectrum News 1 Thats much higher than the Jockey Clubs widely cited national rates, which never exceed two deaths per 1,000 starts. Trainer Bob Baffert stands outside his barn at Churchill Downs on May 2, 2016, in Louisville, Ky. Medina . 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. He declined to answer further questions. I thought wed get fourth. I believe there is some precedent in criminal law when a law is changed from a felony to a misdemeanor how they should be prosecuted even before the new law becomes effective, wrote Arthur, whose job before medical equine director was as a racetrack veterinarian. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. The scheme involved digging up drug-related dirt on Baffert and then telling him that the evidence could disappear tomorrow if he were to endorse the federal reforms of the sport, one of the people said. Justify faced disqualification from his victory in the Santa Anita Derby that would cost his owners a partnership of wealthy interests their share of the $600,000 first-place purse. What I can tell you definitely is this case was handled differently, and it was handled differently because of Rick Arthur, said Ruiss attorney, Darrell Vienna. [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. Finding a new director every two to four years would cost $300,000 each time, a committee that analyzed the bill found. Maryland Racing Commission Officially Suspends Bob Baffert, The TOC, of which Baffert is still a board member, did not respond to requests for comment. There wasnt any question in my mind, he said recently. Baffert won his first race as a thoroughbred trainer Jan. 28, 1979, saddling Flipper Star to a victory at Rillito in Arizona. Judge Denies Baffert Request to Reverse Churchill Downs Ban In the settlement, which records show did not include monetary damages, CHRB agreed to file a complaint against Justify. 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. The 5-year-old mare was the seventh seemingly healthy horse from that barn to drop dead in 16 months. was. . When asked about that plan, attorney Brewster said that in fact 5 Stones did investigate Baffert at the direction of the Jockey Club. Nine died in 2000, all but one from breakdowns. Bafferts record of testing failures threatens public confidence in thoroughbred racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby, said Bill Carstanjen, chief executive of Churchill Downs Inc. Given these repeated failures over the last year, including the increasingly extraordinary explanations, we firmly believe that asserting our rights to impose these measures is our duty and responsibility.. By then, Justify had won the Triple Crown, one of the rarest achievements in sports. (Pegram and Auerbach did not respond to interview requests. After finishing last season strong, CJ Abrams is ready for more. But in 2018, Arthur was still on the job when another Baffert-trained horse tested regulators willingness to challenge him. In 2000, for instance, another of his horses, Nautical Look, tested positive for morphine, landing Baffert a two-month suspension. The board followed their recommendation. You could trust him and that never changed.. The winner's share of the $600 purse was $330. 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 Judge made her ruling based on the NYRA having not allowed Baffert a forum to refute their claims and stated that (they the NYRA).."had held no hearing let alone a prompt one. 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. Baffert has trained horses that won fifteen American Classic Races, fifteen Breeders' Cup races, four Dubai World Cups and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. Hes a very unique personality, a unique sense of humor. This time, he aided the CHRBs search for Jimson weed. 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. . Shortly after Petersen sent the analysis of the states chances, the CHRB agreed to settle Ruiss lawsuit. All of the explanations for the positive drug tests are plausible, but collectively they raise questions. Board member Michael E. Pegram had for decades hired Baffert to train his top horses, including the winner of the 1998 Kentucky Derby, Real Quiet. I think much of the GOP political party is moving too far to the right. 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. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our country. 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. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. [2] Baffert and his family reside in California. At the time, she was 42-years-old. "[29][30] On September 10, 2021 Baffert was charged by NYRA for conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing. Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. Yeah, but thats what drives him. But the star trainers sudden support belied the fact that Baffert has for years been entangled with the very problems he blamed for his sports potential demise: drugs, dead horses and a feckless regulatory system. 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 . LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) A federal judge denied Bob Baffert's request to lift his two-year suspension by Churchill Downs Inc., ruling Friday that the Hall of Fame trainer did not prove its. The California Horse Racing Boards inner workings during the episode have remained mostly shrouded by official secrecy. The 77-year-old billionaire made headlines last year when he made a $10,000 contribution to opponents of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. 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. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. The trainer was fined $2,500. Does his love of the camera sometimes bite him? asked longtime owner and friend Mike Pegram. It will all be settled by lawyers and judges and that takes time. 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. 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. But Clark Brewster, the attorney representing Medina Spirits owner, Amr Zedan, then contacted The Post and described Baffert as being unfairly maligned. Baffert's disgrace could help turn racing to better future | Lexington 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. The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically, Arthur wrote. Bob Baffert's Life Is Good gallops to win in San Felipe Stakes at Santa Bob Baffert: Hall of Fame trainer suspended from participating in - CNN In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. Real Quiet won the race that year, and Baffert also finished third with Indian Charlie. Drop dead while galloping, read a California Horse Racing Board vets account of the first horses death in November 2011. Less than two weeks later, Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. 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. 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. 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. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. 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. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. Racing does not have a historical database for violations, with most of the information kept on the state level. Bafferts attorney argued in court that the trainers May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. Fellow trainer D. Wayne Lukas attributed Baffert's success to his "extraordinary eye for a good horse" and his management ability in finding the right opportunities for his charges.[5]. followed up and ruled Baffert would not be allowed to run in New York. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. He followed it with six more Derbies, two of which launched Triple Crown runs, with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. 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. 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. [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 claimed the boards cover up cost him damages including the $400,000 difference between the first-place and second-place purses in the Santa Anita Derby. Bob Baffert has supporters and detractors in how he deals with jockeys Baffert sued in federal court, claiming the two months off could cost him $11 million in purses. He got his first big break in 1992 when he won his first Breeder's Cup race with Thirty Slews. They had a son in 2004 whom they named "Bode" (/bodi/ BOH-dee), after skier Bode Miller. The lawyers said that taking into account Bafferts estimate of how many horses he has in his care, a count that differs from the starts data, the number of deaths of horses in Bobs barn is consistent with what would normally be expected from the horse population in general. Starts are regularly used, including by the CHRB, to study the death rates of a trainer. Bob Baffert suspended from home of Kentucky Derby after Medina - CNN was unconstitutional after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test. 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. Following the publication of the report, Baffert tweeted: Im gratified that CHRB completed its investigation & found there was no wrongdoing. He's saddled. Betamethasone is mostly injected into the joints of horses to ease inflammation and, if the inflammation is reduced, any associated pain subsides. 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 horses positive test for a banned substance, according to confidential records obtained by The Washington Post that fully detail the saga for the first time. It went exactly according to the lawyers plan. The California Horse Racing Board cleared Baffert of any wrongdoing, but with reservation, calling such a cluster of deaths a less than 1-in-1,000 occurrence. "So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky," Trump's statement read. Most were for excessive use of phenylbutazone, a commonly used anti-inflammatory known as bute. The cluster of sudden deaths remains unexplained and there was no evidence whatsoever CHRB rules or regulations have been violated or any illicit activity played a part in the deaths, Arthurs report concluded. [27][28] On July 14 the suspension was reversed by U. S. Federal District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon sitting in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. Nothing is held back.. Gray said at the time that the bill also would increase the institutional knowledge of Californias central horse drug-testing lab. 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.. Settlement reached over unauthorized Bob Baffert bourbon - The Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. The CHRB ruled it was caused by feed contamination, citing six other horses across four barns who also tested positive. 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. His most serious infraction was also his first. 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.