Interesting comments about this situation, in particular, and the effects on the racing world, in general.
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It doesn’t matter if Baffert gets testing that shows the presence of the other ingredients in the topical medication. A positive is a positive. It is impossible to prove the Betamethasone only came from the topical and not both an injection and the topical. A good cheat would absolutely cover up an illegal use with a more legal form, which is why we don’t ask how or why there was an exposure, we just make the exposure illegal so the worst of the worst can’t perpetually game the system.
He has had multiple positives this year, which either makes him a chronic cheater or too stupid to safely and practically manage the horses under his care. In either case, I’m glad to see the ban. (And I don’t think he’s stupid.)
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A third possibility: he used the ointment and injected the joint both, and is hoping ointment ingredients will show in the test and cover his ass.
Use of the ointment doesn’t preclude injecting the joints.
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This is what I was trying to ask a few comments ago… essentially, is it even possible to prove one way or another that an ointment containing Betamethasone was ever used on the horse? I.E. … is there a known product they are pointing to having used, that contains Betamethasone plus other active ingredients, and a test they can do to establish the other active ingredients… my assumption (admittedly I have not followed all the reporting on this closely) is that:
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That is a beyond the capabilities of drug testing in this case at this point…
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There isn’t a specific, identified name of an ointment that was ALLEGEDLY used in this case, that has a standard formula containing Betamethasone plus other active ingredients, as well as an ALLEGED dose administered of such an ointment, that can then be compared to what has shown up in Medina Spirit’s bloodwork.
I 100% agree with others… Baffert put himself into a corner. I was just curious if he even made a show of demanding any sort of testing for the other active ingredients in the alleged ointment, so that he could PROVE he wasn’t a liar… but… in all fairness… my question depends on whether or not such testing is even possible.
Back to the issue of actually injecting joints with Betamethasone in a 3 year old, 14 days or less prior to race day… and Baffert having done something similar more than once apparently in the last year… I’m still baffled by this. It doesn’t seem like it would result in that much of an advantage… but clearly there’s a risk of a horse testing for it, either because of not timing the injections correctly, or because of metabolization issues in a specific individual. Sooo… is there an alternative theory out there concerning a different way they have been using Betamethasone as part of a more complex doping regimen? The thought just came to mind because of the deaths of Baffert horses a few years back, and all the thyroxine use… and the whole combo of thyroxine and cobalt blue doping theory on that whole issue…
I hope my question about the possibility of a more complicated doping regimen being an underlying issue makes sense to some of the knowledgeable racing people posting on this thread. I am trying to word what I am asking in a clear way, but am certainly not as knowledgeable as many others on these issues… I just am curious. The whole joint injection with betamethasone thing just seems odd to me… it’s a clear risk for testing positive, but there doesn’t seem that much of an advantage to be had from it. And aren’t there better joint injection regimens to use at present anyways?
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I thought the name was clever because of her breeding
Into Mischief- Antics by Unbridled
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Churchill did what only Churchill can do–bar the biggest of the big time trainers from the Derby for the next 2 years. There will be reverberations from this with out a doubt. A big part of the Baffert mystique is that he can get you the Derby horse–now he can’t for at least 2 years.
This is a Churchill/CDI decision. It remains to be seen what the Kentucky regulators do. The Breeders Cup is at Keeneland in 2022. I have a hard time believing that the BC will ignore this move by Churchill and NYRA seems poised to honor it. They were waiting for the split sample. Now that it has come back bad, NYRA will say “that’s ok–we were just waiting for it.”?
So the ball is now in the CHRB’s court. There will forces inside and outside the sport to bear. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that Baffert horses make up a good chunk of these 4 and 5 horse fields at Santa Anita which are running for 40 % less at the maiden allowance level than back east. On the other hand, you have the Jerry Hollendorfer history which didn’t even have a bad test to hang on to. It was more “We don’t like your kind here.”
What’s that old curse - “May you live in interesting times.” Yeah, it’s getting pretty interesting now and you better believe Baffert burned some bridges this time.
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the bettors are the reason medication a) allowed or disallowed
and b) reportable.
Horse welfare isn’t paramount in the industry.
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As a racing fan, it hurts to laugh these days,
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FWIW, I have chosen not to follow the various MRH FB groups (I belong to enough as it is).
I will confess I own shares in more than one MRH horse. I will confess there was one horse recently that I really liked except for the trainer (BB). Before his shares went on sale, Spendthrift/MRH pulled the colt from BB and he is currently trainer TBD. (And yes, I did buy a few shares.)
Last night I sent a message to MRH letting them know I would support any decision to not use BB as a trainer knowing that as a MRH ‘owner’ I am really not an owner and have no say in a trainer. I also let them know that I would not buy shares in any horse targeting BB as the trainer. Sure, if I don’t buy shares in a BB trained horse, I am sure someone else will.
I’ll be interested to see if MRH responds and what they say.
I am NOT one of the FB whackadoodles who think BB’s finger doesn’t get wet when he sticks it in a glass of water 
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Monmouth says they’ll take BB’s horses for the Haskell…
Sigh…
Would be interesting to see what happens if a BB horse suffers a ‘contamination’ issue while at Monmouth…
Things that make you go hmmmmmm
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Well said! Yes, he always seems to set it up for plausible deniability, but he’s running out of stories to tell.
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Yup - I wasn’t going to buy a share for the same reason, and then did once BB was no longer trainer. Let us know how MRH responds.
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Monmouth… the track that instituted a strict whip rule for horses’ welfare is letting BB run his horses. Hypocritical much?
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It’ll be interesting to see what TSG does after booting Hollendorfer off their properties…
Old Bobby will be just fine. He has plenty of people with extremely deep pockets fueling his stable. The Kentucky Derby is 1 race out of an entire year of graded stakes and also the Breeders Cup. I am sure Bob will find a way around this one. As long as the horse is owned by exterior ownership; they can decide who trains their horse for race day even if it means transferring to a separate barn temporarily if they really wanted to go to the Derby. I know Churchill’s rules state that no other trainer of affiliation to Bob can enter a horse at the track (hired or employed); but as I said there is a way around that as long as a ownership with deep pockets is involved and the move is done soon enough
On a side note it is super awesome to see Monmouth supporting their good friend Bob and yet the same people are ending whip use citing best practices for their equine friends. Pot, meet kettle.
It’s also rather surprising that Stronach’s have been virtually silent all of this time after Bob’s recent slew of positives. They wouldn’t think of taking down their So-Cal golden child like they did to Hollendorfer, would they?
I have seen MyRaceHorse “owners” in Authentic ruthlessly defending Bob saying “he trains horses for them and its’ just an ointment, this happens all of the time”. Ya sure; you own a .05% stake in a horse Bob trained and he “trains horses for you”… I have yet to see another trainer be guilty of drugging a horse with Ottomax.
Onward.
Yes, Otomax.
Well, the whole Jason Servis scandal revealed that they were using drugs that would not show up in tests but might instead show up as a false positive for Dexamethasone. So, one wonders if the positive Betamethasone test is from some other substance.
Wouldn’t you love to have Medina Spirit spend 1 month at a clinic where he could be closely monitored, only have Otomax applied to him, and run the same blood test?
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FWIW, BB is still the trainer of record for Authentic as he is the last trainer for Authentic’s BC run last November (11/2020)
I am sure they didn’t mention that Spendthrift/MRH pulled 4 horses from BB; 3 currently completely owned and one with shares for sale. I suspect (my personal opinion) that SEC may have factored into this decision as BB’s contamination ‘issue’ with Medina Spirit puts Medina Spirit’s purse monies as well as stud fee value at risk. Yup owning a race horse is risky but this is probably not a super acceptable risk.
I also suspect the majority of MRH owners are not knowledgeable about the sport other than what they see on TV and the updates that MRH provides. If all you do is listen and believe the glossy media, yup BB is great trainer and this is all just a misunderstanding.
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It’s ironic isn’t it? https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/peta-releases-statement-on-new-monmouth-whip-rule/
I wonder how much PETA loves them now?
The nuance of this situation that the green racing fan may not understand is how trainers behave disingenously to gain advantage.
On the surface, yes, this is just a trace amount of a prohibited but otherwise benign substance. On the surface, yes, there is a totally plausible explanation for how and why it got into the horse’s system. On the surface, no, it didn’t affect the outcome of the race. On the surface, Baffert’s other recent positives also have plausible explanations and also were at levels that didn’t affect the outcome of the race.
But just because all of that is true doesn’t mean Baffert is an innocent man being unfairly targeted.
Besides the obvious fact that he raced horses on banned subsances, these patterns are generally the symptom of a bigger problem-- the abuse of legal therapeutic medications while training. It’s a rampant issue that is challenging to address because these therapeutic medications have benefits that improve the quality of life for all racehorses. Yet a significant number of trainers (in all disciplines, but we’re focused on racing) find ways to overuse these products to enhance training and therefore performance. But ultimately, the constant onslaught of pharmaceuticals is detrimental to the animals, sometimes with catastrophic results.
If we are ever to address the issue, we need to stop celebrating people whose success comes from the practice.
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