Absolutely. I see a legal showdown coming.
When honest and hard working, patient trainers out there are just trying to make a living in every day races, and having to hopscotch thru the cheaters and grfiters, it’s hard for me to put all my sympathy toward mutlimillionaires looking for a derby dream.
Lets clean up racing for reasons other than “some trainners and owners want to get Derby points” is all i was saying…it’s not the be-all-end-all for 99% of everyone IN the racing business. .
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The point is–and I don’t mean to speak for @skydy–we are not sympathetic to those Derby dreamers and their “caught umpteen times but never really sanctioned” trainer.
If racing would finally take down one of its biggest and most well known trainers, that would go a long way toward clearing the air and putting the rest of the cheaters on notice that a reckoning is finally coming.
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Derby points matter to Baffert and his owners, so in this particular instance no Derby points is a big deal.
Meant to answer Winter Triangle not LaurieB
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Exactly. The “little guys” who play by the rules are tired of watching Baffert get away with cheating while they tow the line. Hopefully HISA will address all of the cheaters and abusers by implementing some penalties with teeth.
We are hoping that once Baffert is set down, no one will feel invincible again.
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I doubt they would, since when these yearlings are 3 year olds Baffert will still be suspended by Churchill Downs, and possibly by the NYRA. Owners like to race at Saratoga as well as CD.
Whoops, wrong thread.
Yes I Understand, skdy and .LaurieB.
He’s a crafty one though —When you go after a big kahuna like “Why-is -this-happening-to-me Baffert”, ya better take’ em down the first time, as you don’t often get a 2nd chance because they know a lot about how to do what they’re doing, how to cover their trackcs, and have plenty of $ to pay attorneys.
Too bad USADA wasn’t already in place, because right now I don’t really trust the horse racing PTB to not bungle this.
He was still racing stakes at SAR at that meet recently. Somehow that suprised me but then again, it didn’t.
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NYRA is working on that.
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With regards to the Derby points decision, this is potentially devastating to the Baffert barn if it survives a legal challenge. There are certain national barns out there where a major focus is the trainer can get ambitious owners to the Derby. Qualifying to run in the Derby is as much a skill as getting to the race in one piece and participating in it. In some prominent circles, mares are bred, babies are raised and sales horses are bought with the laser focused goal of putting those horses in the hands of a Derby trainer and Baffert is one of a very small handful of those. Baffert and Pletcher start each year with over 200 2 year olds each trying to get them to the Derby or another TC race. Since owners can’t run in the Derby without qualifying the horse, taking Derby points away from Bob means those owners with that goal have to look elsewhere.
And that is most of them. It’s why an owner is in Baffert’s barn.
This is pretty major. I think it is even bigger than the NYRA decision.
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Genuine inquiry. Baffert is already banned from Churchill Downs, and thus the Derby, in 2022 and 2023 , so why does this matter?
I’m guessing it would prevent owners from having horses qualify for the Derby with Baffert, and then “switching trainers” the week before the Derby, or whenever the cut off is.
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Wow. Just the thought of the logistics involved in that many babies seems crazy. Never mind the rest of the horses they have that are not two-year-olds.
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Thank you. The prospect of that sort of dubious behavior hadn’t occurred to me. Unfortunately it should have.
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You explained it well Pronzini. TY
Also though, wouldn’t some owners may say “this is a chance for ME to get Baffert for a trainer now that he doesn’t have the big name owners going to the Derby” and figuring they can still win plenty of high level stakes races?
I’ll bet a lot of the actual hands-on training is done by assistants.
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Below is just my humble opinion. I have zero inside knowledge.
I am convinced that Baffert went to the 2021 Derby with no thought of winning. MS was, what, his third or fourth string 3-year old? And past performances did not suggest the colt would get a mile and a quarter.
However, Baffert had a new, wealthy owner in tow. MS was cheap (~#35,000 as a two-year old). I’ll bet the plan was to wine and dine and party with the new owner and suggest how great it would be to come back with a really good (i.e., expensive) horse and win!
I think Baffert thought MS would go to the lead, give everyone a thrill, and fade, ideally to no better than 6th, since they test the first five. Then, oops, oh boy, well, let’s just hope for the best and brazen it out if necessary.
And I think Baffert did whatever he needed to do to get MS to the start.
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Even so. That’s still a lot of horses to organize and care for and work.
Just the thought of that much paperwork alone sends chills down my spine! Lol.
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That would be career suicide. No one would knowingly race a horse in the Derby that would test positive. Any horse can be specialed.
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True that!
And if he does eventually get punished, yes, it will have been career suicide. Also, the definition of hubris.
But so far, so good for Teflon Bob-he was able to race at Saratoga, MS has not yet been DQ’d from the Derby. Time will tell.
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…all this, and yet Medina Spirit still is the official winner of the 2021 Derby. Just DQ him already.
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