Racing officials ruled that the positive test was a result of contamination and the wins of Charlatan and Gamine were restored. 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. 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. [8] His first suspension was in 1977 for misuse of morphene, but thereafter he had no violations for the next eight years. 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. [31][32] Additional charges were added on January 3, 2022. Theres one thing that I will say positive about Bob is that he is a horseman. 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. 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. This in turn led to a ban from all California Horse Racing Board facilities beginning April 4 due to a rule removing any trainer under a 60 day or higher ban from all CHRB facilities. 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. None of them are considered performance-enhancing in the traditional sense, such as amphetamines or speedballs. In 1997, he trained Silver Charm to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont. But the overall record indicates that he may not be running as tight a ship as he should.. Racing does not have a historical database for violations, with most of the information kept on the state level. When Arthur delivered his report in November 2013, the bill to remove him from office was still pending. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks . 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. And he pushes the envelope to the extent that they give their lives for his bank account.. 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. Baffert, one of the most legendary trainers in American horse racing, has faced criticism and suspensions after his 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina . If the complaint was ruled on quickly enough, it would have made Justify ineligible for the Kentucky Derby. The New York Racing Assn. 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 consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out. 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. His attorney, let me just say, worked very, very hard, recalled former California Deputy Attorney General Jerald L. Mosley, who represented the state in attempting to uphold the suspension. 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. You could trust him and that never changed.. 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. But Californias adoption of ARCI guidelines is not a given. 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.). He married his second wife, Jill, a former television reporter based in Louisville, in 2002. [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. 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.. He has won the Kentucky Derby five times. Two months later, the PAC contributed $2,000 to Gray's . [9] Point Given was nominated in 2009, but elected and inducted in 2010. Bob is trying to put 2020 behind him and move forward in a positive manner, Robertson wrote in an e-mail to Borden. 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. Bob had the personality and he was honest. Wizards show plenty of heart early but cant find an edge late in Chicago. Horse trainer Bob Baffert, left, leaves federal court in Brooklyn on July 12. "What a way to come back," said Baffert, whose punishment by the Kentucky Horse . Baffert responded: Zero tolerance?, Robertson, Bafferts attorney, then tried to negotiate for Baffert to avoid potential suspensions in both Arkansas and Kentucky. Bell told an investigator he then checked other bales and found a branch and pods he thought were Jimson weed in the parking lot. [2] His first winner was Flipper Star at Rillito Park on January 28, 1979. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida. After the test result was revealed, Mick Ruis, the trainer and owner of the Santa Anita Derbys runner-up, sued the CHRB, claiming Justifys win should have been erased. He also dismissed complaints that doping was rampant in the sport. What we knew about horses you could put in a thimble. Medina Spirit had a legal medication in him, ONeill said. At one point, the regulators effort included searching for exonerating evidence in a literal haystack. Anybody who walks with that swagger, people are going to love him or hate him, Pegram said. 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. Bob Baffert blamed "cancel culture" after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. From there, he moved to racing at recognized tracks, scoring his first victory at age 17 in 1970. The bill was introduced by California Assemblyman Adam Gray, a former aide to Cardoza who had been in office for less than three months. Baffert was recently suspended for 90 days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, California Horse Racing Board, and the New York State Gaming Commission for drug violations in the 2021 Kentucky . [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. If it surprised me it would be that I expected more, Roberts said. Why would people want to be betting on horses when there are allegations and there are real positives and hes getting off on technicalities.. All they show is contamination, and they have really put the trainers heads on the chopping blocks. 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. But in this case, Arthur urged a lighter penalty based on his suggestion the CHRB downgrade the drug. In the next six months, three of his horses tested positive for banned or excessive substances four times in California, Arkansas and Kentucky. [8][37] That case was eventually dismissed as the regulators concluded the facts supported an instance of feed contamination. (A CHRB spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Hes won seven, more than anyone else in the 147-year history of the race. 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. Gagliano, the Jockey Club president, denied that the group had any knowledge of whom 5 Stones investigated, outside of the eventual indictments. To me, whats in the best interest of the sport is not seeing anyone being dogpiled on.. And Madeline Auerbach, who later became a CHRB commissioner, had partnered with Baffert in thoroughbred breeding. California counts all fatalities of horses in a trainers care, including breakdowns during training, not just racing deaths. 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. 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. After the Times broke the news of the positive drug test, Ruis sued the CHRB in January 2020. But the sports new governing authority will not take over until mid-2022. They had a son in 2004 whom they named "Bode" (/bodi/ BOH-dee), after skier Bode Miller. It wasn't long after the running of the 123rd Kentucky Derby, where a grey . It sounds like hes deflecting, Gagliano said of Baffert. Baedeker and Arthur said in interviews that no matter how it was handled it would have been impossible to resolve the case that quickly. 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. Baffert often speaks of his life as if its a Shakespearean play, humankinds tragedies mingling with his own existential crises. Biography Bob Baffert is best known as a horse rider.