Bob Baffert
Juddmonte homebred Laurel River (Into Mischief) looks to become the latest graded winner for his red-hot sire in a four-horse renewal of Santa Anita's GIII Lazaro Barrera S. Saturday. Fifth as the favorite in his career bow at Santa Anita Oct. 3, the bay graduated by 4 1/4 lengths next out in Arcadia Apr. 3. The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) seeks his first win in open company here. A dominant debut winner against fellow Cal-breds Dec. 27, the gelding checked in third behind Concert Tour (Street Sense) in the GII San...
BALTIMORE, MD--Immediately after the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, it appeared that the GI Preakness S. two weeks hence would be a routine affair. Trainer Bob Baffert would be heading to Pimlico with a record seventh Derby victory under his belt and he would be in the enviable position of trying to collect his eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. And then the unthinkable happened. The Derby winner, Medina Spirit (Protonico), tested positive for Betamethasone, a substance banned on race day. That single event sparked a...
This time, it's not just the Susans that have a black eye. You'll forgive me a little hesitation before addressing the 146th running of a race that can seldom have been staged in so febrile a context. Two weeks ago, I was incautious enough in this column to hope for just a nice, boring Derby, after the rancour of 2019 and the dismal postponement of 2020. Then, last week, I asked why even his own industry had been so ungenerous to a trainer who had now won four of his...
Led by Michael Beychok, the winner of the 2012 NTRA National Horseplayers Championship, four gamblers have filed a Class Action Lawsuit against trainer Bob Baffert and owner Amr Zedan, alleging fraud. Each maintains that they made bets that would have won had GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) not been "doped." The plaintiffs allege that Baffert and Zedan are in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the California Control of Profits of Organized Crime Act (CCPOCA) and for committing state common law and equitable fraud....
Per the condition of the entry agreement into the GI Preakness S. between the Maryland Jockey Club and trainer Bob Baffert reached earlier this week, Baffert-trained horses Medina Spirit (Protonico), Concert Tour (Street Sense) and Beautiful Gift (Medaglia d'Oro) underwent three rounds of out-of-competition blood sample testing. The Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) took two samples, one May 6 and the other May 10. A third sample was taken by 1/ST RACING and the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) May 11. Samples drawn May 6 and 10 by the MRC were sent...
Bob Baffert has been placed the squarely in the cross hairs over Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s Betamethasone positive following last week's GI Kentucky Derby and amid the chorus of criticism, admonishment and outright verbal assault, a fellow Hall of Famer took up the mantle of defense for his beleaguered colleague. "Unfortunately, it is the story of this Preakness," said D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the second jewel of the Triple Crown six times. "Racing doesn't deserve to get the black eye for something this minor. Now, if there is an...
Godolphin's Adventuring (Pioneerof the Nile) rides a two-race win skein as she tries to add her first graded victory in Friday's GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico. Second choice on the morning line at 4-1, the homebred hit the board in her first two starts--both off-turf tests--at the Fair Grounds late last season. Well supported in her Feb. 16 reappearance at the New Orleans oval, the daughter of dual Grade I winning Questing (Hard Spun) came from just off the pace to romp by 6 1/2 lengths...
Baltimore, MD--The leadup to this year's GI Preakness S. has proven anything but routine with news of the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico) testing positive for Betamethasone following his GI Kentucky Derby win two weeks ago. However, just two days before the second jewel in the Triple Crown, the vibe around the Stakes Barns on Pimlico's back side had a decidedly more business-as-usual feel rather than a Classic-week electric charge. El Camino Real Derby winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy), third in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S., and Keepmeinmind (Laoban), last...
Normally, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland aims to touch on a wide variety of industry issues every week. But there was only one story worth discussing this week, so the writers broke down every angle of the explosive controversy surrounding Bob Baffert and the failed drug test of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. They also welcomed Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Chairman and CEO and prominent industry lawyer Alan Foreman as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about what happens now for Baffert from a...
THA Chairman and CEO Alan Foreman joined this week's TDN Writers' Room in wake of Medina Spirit's failed drug test in the GI Kentucky Derby.
Since Sunday morning, horse racing has largely been a one-issue sport. That morning, of course, trainer Bob Baffert announced that GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) had tested positive for 21 picograms per milliliter of betamethasone in a post-race sample. Betamethasone is a regulated corticosteroid commonly used in horse racing as an intra-articular joint injection. In Kentucky as of last year, a detection of betamethasone at any level is deemed a violation. The previous threshold was 10 picograms per milliliter. A split sample will now go for confirmation testing....
The Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) announced Tuesday that it had accepted the entry of Medina Spirit (Protonico) for Saturday's GI Preakness S. Trainer Bob Baffert revealed Sunday that Medina Sprit had tested positive for the prohibited medication betamethasone after winning the GI Kentucky Derby, which put his appearance in the second leg of the Triple Crown in doubt. The MJC, which operates Pimlico for The Stronach Group (TSG), had the option of banning all entries from Baffert. Following the announcement of the drug positive, Churchill Downs said that it would...