bob baffert political affiliation

Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks . [13] In Kentucky, any amount of betamethasone detected in post-race testing is a violation and could result in a disqualification. There is nothing new here, he wrote. Baffert also trained the 2018 Triple Crown Winner, Justify and the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic. Yes, I'm a registered Republican, although I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. [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. In 1997, he trained Silver Charm to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont. [14] It was Baffert's fifth violation in 13 months. I guess I'm more of an "old school" Republican. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. The trainer was Baffert. Some would argue, though, that if it makes a horse less uncomfortable, it improves their performance. Baffert went to federal court and had the suspension overturned, but NYRA has called a scheduling conference on the trainer for Oct. 11. The bill was introduced by California Assemblyman Adam Gray, a former aide to Cardoza who had been in office for less than three months. 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. It basically said something under his control is associated with these fatalities, Arthur said, but regulators couldnt act without evidence of a rules violation. [33], In February 2022, Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The 90 day ban against Baffert was set to be honored in all 38 racing states. In his teens, he worked as a jockey for $100 a day in informal Quarter Horse races on the outskirts of Nogales. Gary Fenton, chairman of the TOC, declined to be interviewed. Its more the friendship that I miss. Racing does not have a historical database for violations, with most of the information kept on the state level. Tinsley declined to comment. Nothing is held back.. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. On June 9, Justify won the Belmont and the Triple Crown. 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 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. 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. There are no secrets on the backside.. The board followed their recommendation. He told reporters that he would fight the issue "tooth and nail. Some of my friends swear that I'm actually a conservative Democrat. Bafferts attorney argued in court that the trainers May suspension by the New York Racing Assn. He also won the race in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 when run as a Grade I event. In 2015, the Daily Herald ran a profile on Jill Baffert, explaining that she was a former journalist and waitress from Centerville. [7] Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. 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. 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. A recent conversation about the tragedy of horse deaths wended its way back to the defense of his reputation. The substance was indeed Jimson weed. The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc. in federal court to end his suspension. Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of the second-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, has sued the CHRB. He was born on January 13, 1953, in Nogales, AZ. 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. He routinely challenges most sanctions, usually agreeing to accept fines but vigorously fighting suspensions. [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. [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. 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.). It was an easy suspension to serve as Baffert was in school and not doing much training. 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. 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. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. 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. 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. Baffert is the biggest name in horse racing, even bigger than the animals he conditions. 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. Yeah, sure, hes a wiseass and irreverent. The. Time after time its not his fault. It wasnt long before Baffert was making pocket change riding the horses in match races. When The Post shared the data on 72 of the horse deaths with Brewster, he and Bafferts lawyer, W. Craig Robertson III, said that one of the horses listed was never in Bafferts care, though it is marked as his horse in CHRB records, and that another was a stable pony not being raced. (Arthur and those involved with the bill said the actions were unrelated. There are highs and lows and a lot of disappointment. 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. The 69-year-old Hall of Fame trainer is suing Churchill Downs Inc . [38] This reminded the public that since 2000, at least 74 other horses had died while in Baffert's stables. No horse loving person like Bob or his entire team accepts the reality of a horse death with anything other than sadness and despair, the lawyers said in their statement. [19][20] On May 11, Baffert stated Medina Spirit had dermatitis, for which an ointment containing betamethasone was used. Bafferts lawyers have made explicit that he will accept fines but not a suspension, and state regulators have continually obliged him. I dont see somebody who is doping horses, Martin said after reviewing Bafferts drug-related history. This America's different." pic . In 2013 the group hosted a Lasix-focused event at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills at which one owner reportedly said running a race without the drug was like waterboarding your horse in their own blood.. My focus will always be on the best care for my horses. Shah, the owner of at least three of the horses, told The Post he had fully trusted Baffert as a trainer and had no reason to suspect that he would harm the horses he loves the horses. Brewster, the attorney, said that Baffert believed the horses had ingested rat poison, traces of which were found in one of them. Bob Bafferts horses have incurred numerous drug violations over the course of his 44 years as a thoroughbred trainer. Baffert, however, became the first trainer in history to win the Derby and Preakness in back-to-back years. With private eyes and political muscle, horse racings elite pushed to punish dopers, Bob Baffert, long horse racings irreverent king, sits on a precarious throne, Bob Baffert, banned from racing horses in New York, sues states racing association. He also dismissed complaints that doping was rampant in the sport. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. Another day passed before it was discovered the colt was administered a topical ointment for a rash that contained betamethasone. There wasnt any question in my mind, he said recently. Longtime client Mike Pegram explained, "Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate himhe's a wiseass and irreverent." Trainer Bob Baffert celebrates after his horse, Authentic, won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020. Yakteen rose to Bafferts defense and it ended with a scuffle that slightly injured a security guard. On at least 14 occasions, Baffert has been caught racing a horse with more than the allowable amount of bute in its system, according to a review of ARCI data, making it his most common offense. Baffert revisited the Derby the next year, sending two top colts, Real Quiet and Indian Charlie, to Louisville. Between November 2011 and March 2013, however, Baffert had seven of his horses die of sudden death, not on the race track. Baffert says he plans to seek legal recourse wherever necessary. 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. 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. 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. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. His last day as medical equine director is Wednesday. Scopolamine, Baedeker wrote, can be injected but very often is the result of feed or straw that has been contaminated with Jimson weed., Arthur had previously suggested he didnt consider Jimson weed contamination to be a serious threat, writing in a 2016 memo that the likelihood under our current procedures of getting a positive from environmental contamination is rather low. In an interview this week, Arthur said he meant that such incidences were infrequent but said that in California, if you have a scopolamine positive, its going to be associated with Jimson weed thats just the reality of it., On April 26, records show, Arthur emailed CHRB officials that he had talked to Bob and informed him the proceedings would not immediately interfere with Justifys Triple Crown schedule. They had a son in 2004 whom they named "Bode" (/bodi/ BOH-dee), after skier Bode Miller. Until this summer, Baffert was the longest-serving member on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, having been elected in 2007. On a recent afternoon, Baffert appeared largely unperturbed by the firestorm surrounding him when he answered his door in Arcadia, Calif. This is the first Ive learned of it, Baffert responded when told of The Posts finding that he had the highest rate of horse deaths among other top trainers in the state. He won his first race on that 1970 afternoon but not as a trainer. Betamethasone is mostly injected into the joints of horses to ease inflammation and, if the inflammation is reduced, any associated pain subsides. Baffert made the. Bob Baffert Family, Parents During a hearing, records show, Baffert argued the positive test could have been a result of his stable hands eating poppy seed bagels and muffins around the horse. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. 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. 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. Medina Spirit died after a training session on 6 December 2021 and an ensuing necropsy on 11 February 2022 was inconclusive. Once again, the Hall of Fame. (A CHRB spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. 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. 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. A week after that, Baffert learned of the positive test. He has never apologized to the public for trashing the game. 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. 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 . Earlier data was unreliable, the racing publication said. At one point, the regulators effort included searching for exonerating evidence in a literal haystack. Baffert, however, wouldnt change the outcome. 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. . And because of that, he has become arrogant as hell. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. His American Pharaoh horse won the Triple Crown in 2015. Racing lacks a central clearinghouse for data on deaths nationally, and regulators in many states do not track deaths by trainer. A 4/C violation meant minor punishment that wouldnt typically involve disqualifying the horse or redistributing winnings. Again, we can most likely agree to most anything in Kentucky except a suspension.. Officials worked secretly to clear Bob Bafferts Justify amid 2018 Triple Crown run, records show. April 29, 2022 9:00 AM. He made the jump to Los Alamitos, where he was running against such legends as Wayne Lukas.

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