Bob Baffert
Guys. Come on. What was the one thing we were told, right from the outset? Wash your hands. Obsessively, wash your hands. Yet here's our most accomplished trainer, explaining that his assistant transferred a trace from a medicinal patch on his own back to the tongue-ties of their two most charismatic sophomores. Somebody seems to have been no more vigilant in the jocks' room at Los Alamitos, creating a fresh headache for Bob Baffert in the postponement of a barn debut, scheduled for Del Mar this weekend, for Maximum Security...
Hall of Famer Bob Baffert has been suspended 15 days for previously announced lidocaine positives found in post-race samples from two runners on Oaklawn Park's May 2 card, GI Arkansas Derby division winner Charlatan (Speightstown) and allowance winner Gamine (Into Mischief). The Oaklawn Park Board of Stewards has also disqualified both horses from their wins and ordered purse monies to be redistributed in rulings dated July 14 and made public Wednesday. News of the positives first surfaced in late May, and it was revealed last week that split samples taken...
"Bob's your uncle." It's one of those baffling British expressions, of no coherent origin. You use it much as the French would say: "et voila!" Typically, it rounds off some counsel so elementary that the dividends are almost mechanical. Do this simple thing, and "you're all set". For instance: go to a horse sale; buy a colt with Classic pedigree; put him into training with a silver-haired dude in California--and Bob's your uncle. Not that it can have been terribly easy for Bob Baffert to show his most avuncular side...
Like everyone else, Gabby Gaudet is looking forward to Keeneland's special summer meet, which kicks off Wednesday. With 10 graded stakes races packed into a five-day schedule, she knows the meet will be special, but also different. Keeneland has never run in the summer before, and, for this meet, no spectators will be allowed to attend. As one of the hosts of the track's simulcast feed, Gaudet's job will be to deliver the "Keeneland experience" to people's living rooms. "I know people will miss Keeneland and miss being on track,"...
Split samples taken from Charlatan (Speightstown) and Gamine (Into Mischief) after wins on the Arkansas Derby Day card at Oaklawn Park May 2 confirmed positive results for the local numbing agent Lidocaine, according to a report in New York Times Monday evening. Both horses are trained by Bob Baffert. Charlatan was a six-length victor in a division of the GI Arkansas Derby, while Gamine won an allowance race on the card and has since gone on to a romping victory in the GI Acorn S. A statement released by attorney...
The flashy Uncle Chuck went from maiden winner to graded winner as he ran away from just three foes as the heavy favorite here. A seven-length romper going a flat mile at Santa Anita June 12, the half-brother to brilliant debut winner and sire Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor) was bet down to 13-1 in last week's GI Kentucky Derby future pool and gave his backers reason to feel good about their chances Saturday. With stablemate and MGSW Thousand Words the main danger on paper, the leggy dark bay chased the...
Unraced since crossing the wire first in the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup, Maximum Security (New Year's Day) will make his next start on July 18 GII San Diego H. at Del Mar. The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form. "He's doing fantastic," trainer Bob Baffert said. "We're pointing for the San Diego and I couldn't be happier with him." The San Diego, a mile-and-a-sixteenth race with a purse of $150,000, is a prep for the GI Pacific Classic on Aug. 13 at Del Mar and Baffert confirmed...
A talented and deep field of eight will line up for Saturday's highly anticipated 127th renewal of the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park. An unlucky second behind the mighty Mitole (Eskendereya) in last year's contest, 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) figures to vie for favoritism. He was first or second in all seven of his starts in 2019, led by a win in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. and a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The four-time Grade I winner made up for a dismal...
Following a disappointing spring which saw two top Bob Baffert trainees-Nadal (Blame) and Charlatan (Speightstown)-get bounced off the GI Kentucky Derby trail, the horseman emerges with a pair of live contenders in Saturday's GIII Los Alamitos Derby. The more accomplished of the two is Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm's Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile), the winner of his first three starts, including last winter's GII Los Alamitos Futurity and the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Feb. 1. After fading to fourth behind stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief) in the Mar....
When Amr Zedan's first involvement with horse racing came as a partner in G1 Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit), the Saudi businessman assumed he'd found an easy game and jumped in with both feet with several notable purchases at the 2017 juvenile sales. But the group failed to find the success he dreamed of and he decided to take a step back and regroup. After a meeting with legendary trainer Bob Baffert two years ago and a nudge from his wife, Princess Noor bint Asem, Zedan decided...
TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale opened Monday in Timonium with the specter of uncertainty in the industry caused by the pandemic and the havoc it has wreaked on the global economy hanging over all participants, but the session was punctuated by vibrant bidding across the board and concluded with a sparkling 20% buy-back rate. A colt by Uncle Mo brought the day's highest price when selling to Michael Lund Peterson for $1.1 million. "I don't think anybody really knew what to expect, including us," Fasig-Tipton...
A colt by Speightster (hip 1312), purchased by Larry Best for $1.1 million at the OBS Spring Sale, has been returned to previous owner Solana Beach Sales and has joined the Southern California barn of trainer Bob Baffert. "Larry Best purchased the colt and after the sale he sent him to Taylor Made," explained consignor Tom McCrocklin. "I discussed post-sale management of the colt with Frank Taylor because he was not familiar with the horse and I was. And I think they chose to pull his back shoes and put...