Bob Baffert
In response to an order from a federal judge for trainer Bob Baffert to reveal specifically which of his existing clients have told him they may pull horses from his care if his banishment by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is allowed to continue, Baffert's legal team on Friday provided the court with a list of five Thoroughbred owners who are allegedly considering splitting with the Hall of Fame conditioner. According to a one-page letter filed electronically by attorney W. Craig Robertson just minutes before the judge's mandated noon...
I don't know which is the greater compliment, the one extended across the continent or the one across the ocean. Putting them together, however, the hosts of the GI Belmont Derby Invitational can feel confident they must be doing something right. This race has now obtained such stature that the most exciting turf sophomore in the land has had to join the recent defections from the Bob Baffert barn in order to take part--even though Du Jour (Temple City) represents a partnership comprising Debbie Lanni and Baffert's own wife, Jill....
The federal judge presiding over the Bob Baffert versus the New York Racing Association ban case ruled Thursday that Baffert's affidavit, filed Wednesday as part of a 434-page "reply memorandum of law in further support of motion for preliminary injunction" of NYRA's ban, would not be stricken or disregarded, as NYRA had requested. NYRA's attorney, Henry Greenberg, argued that the reply included new information that the NYRA did not have time to investigate and that the entire filing or the affidavit should be stricken or disregarded. NYRA informed Baffert on...
Alleging "hypocrisy" and "backdoor" tactics on the part of defendant New York Racing Association (NYRA) to "vindictively target" Bob Baffert, attorneys for the seven-time GI Kentucky Derby winning trainer supplied a federal judge with a 434-page "memo" Wednesday in support of trying to get the court to overturn a NYRA-imposed ban on Baffert. NYRA's exclusion of Baffert from Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack was mandated May 17 by the association because of the Hall of Fame trainer's repeated equine medication violations in other jurisdictions. The voluminous electronic...
The federal judge in charge of the Bob Baffert vs. the New York Racing Association (NYRA) case told lawyers for NYRA that she would not schedule a last-minute conference the defendant's counsel had requested to discuss a planned "motion to dismiss" filing. Instead, in a swift and terse reply written shortly after NYRA's July 6 filing, Judge Carol Bagley Amon entered an order in United States District Court (Eastern District of New York) that stated, "Defendant has filed a request for a pre-motion conference. The request shall be taken up...
The New York Racing Association (NYRA) on Tuesday gave notice to a federal judge that it intends to file a formal motion to dismiss trainer Bob Baffert's civil complaint, which seeks to overturn NYRA's ban against him. On May 17, NYRA informed the Hall of Fame trainer with the highly-publicized string of recent equine drug positives that he was temporarily not welcome to stable or race at the association's three tracks, Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. That ban, NYRA said at the time, would be re-evaluated once...
Classier went wire-to-wire and resolutely held off stablemate Defunded to give trainer Bob Baffert his fifth straight win in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby Sunday. Sent off at 6-5, Classier was on the lead through fractions of :22.98 and :47.01. Defunded, the 3-5 favorite, rolled up to challenge the pacesetter after three-quarters in 1:11.08 and, while Classier began inching away in upper stretch, the favorite battled back in a stirring stretch battle to the wire. Classier refused to yield and earned his first graded victory in determined fashion. "I waited...
Last year's GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint winner and Eclipse champion Gamine (Into Mischief) looms large in Monday's GII Great Lady M S. at Los Alamitos. The Bob Baffert-trained 'TDN Rising Star' has been perfect in two tries this year--she bested stablemate Qahira (Cairo Prince) by five lengths in Santa Anita's GIII Las Flores S. Apr. 4, and was a facile winner of the GI Derby City Distaff at Churchill May 1 ahead of three next-out stakes winners. The $1.8-million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic topper figures to be extremely tough to beat...
After 15 years as California's equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur has stepped away from the post. A long-time vocal champion, both in his home state and at the international level, of tightened welfare practices in the sport, Arthur has spearheaded a slew of precedent-setting medication and equine safety reforms in California. During those 15 years, Arthur has been at the helm of the industry's veterinary ship while California has navigated a series of tumultuous storms, including a benighted venture to switch from dirt to synthetic racetrack surfaces during the...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency PRICEY INTO MISCHIEF DEBUTS IN JERSEY 7th-MTH, $45K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 3:03p.m. Red Oak Stable's $360,000 KEESEP acquisition COMEDIC TIMING (Into Mischief) debuts in Oceanport. The bay is a half-brother to MGISW turfer Divisidero (Kitten's Joy). TJCIS PPs BAFFERT UNVEILS QUALITY FILLY 3rd-LRC, $45K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 4:58p.m. Bob Baffert sends out yet another pricey firster in Sarah Kelly's $425,000 KEESEP buy VELVET SLIPPERS (Quality Road). The bay boasts a speedy worktab in preparation for this debut, most recently breezing a best-of-29 five...
Bob Baffert has two strong chances to take his fifth straight edition of the GIII Los Alamitos Derby Sunday. The race was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was brought back as an extra Sunday when it failed to fill the first time. Leading the Baffert duo is Defunded (Dialed In), who was fourth in both the Apr. 3 GI Santa Anita Derby and the May 1 GII Pat Day Mile. The gelding enters off a runner-up effort in the GIII Affirmed S. at Santa Anita June 13. Baffert also saddles...
With a July 12 federal court date looming to decide whether or not Bob Baffert's history of equine drug positives will keep him from entering horses at the upcoming and financially lucrative Saratoga Race Course meet, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) on June 30 filed a memorandum of law that opposes the Hall of Fame trainer's request for an injunction to lift the association's ban against him that has been in effect for the past six weeks. NYRA told Baffert via letter May 17 that he was temporarily not...