Medina Spirit fails drug test

[ASB_Stars]

Ummm. Ouch! Judgment day for Baffert is coming right quick!

WinStar Moves Country Grammer From Baffert to Pletcher

[Texarkana]

@LaurieB

@Sparrowette

Way back when I had my one racehorse at Longacres, we had to be cleared by the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB). I had to be fingerprinted and told that my fingerprints would be kept on file in D.C., they would run a background check on us (exDH and I) and that the purpose of the bureau was to keep the people in racing on the straight and narrow––to keep everyone honest.

So what does the TRPB actually do? Yes, there is stuff on their website, but in today’s real world, The mission statement seems outdated. I don’t see them doing much of anything these days. I guess if they don’t tattoo, then switching horses would come back, so yes, keep tattoos, but with all this going on with Baffert, not one peep about the TRPB saying or doing a thing. The tracks that Baffert races at are TRPB member tracks. Shouldn’t they have some sort of authority power? From what I was told way back when, and from their current website, it would seem that they should.

Is the TRPB just complacent? What gives?

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of the TRPB. I had no idea they existed. This snippet from their home page: “The TRPB, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America” provides a link supposedly to the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of NA that instead took me to a page offering advice on how to straighten hair.

So their website is sadly out of date. I’m thinking they probably don’t do much anymore

Their headquarters are near where I grew up. Their sole job in the 21st century is identification of horses. That’s always been their job, but I think maybe in the past they kept track of other information to help prevent fraud.

Once upon a time, you had to go through them to do a tattoo search on an unknown horse because the Jockey Club wouldn’t help.

[LaurieB]

@ASB_Stars

Ummm. Ouch! Judgment day for Baffert is coming right quick!

Not really. Unfortunately.

It sounds as though the only reason WinStar moved the horse is because they want to race him in NY and BB is currently banned there.

From the article:
“With the ban on Bob in Kentucky and New York right now, our opportunities are limited to (the TVG Pacific Classic, G1, at Del Mar) in late August. With Improbable last year, we came east and ran in the Whitney which helped him win an Eclipse Award. We are continuing to evaluate the situation with Bob and will adjust as we need to,” Walden said via text.

[Event_Horse]

Thanks for posting the Washington Post article.

One thing that jumped out at me was regarding the horses that had rat poison in their systems - Baffert blamed it on the poison used at the track, but the tests showed it was a different poison from what the track used…

[ASB_Stars]

I read that, as well. However, do they often move their winning horses from one BNT to another? Or is this really just a function of Baffert’s suspension?

[yaya]

@ASB_Stars

I read that, as well. However, do they often move their winning horses from one BNT to another? Or is this really just a function of Baffert’s suspension?

Sounds like a function of the suspension, but not in the “he’s a cheater, let’s leave him” sort of way, more like “we want to race in NY, Bob can’t race in NY, so we need to go with someone who can” sort of way.

[ASB_Stars]

I like the “we will continue to evaluate” part. Leaves it nice and open to whatever comes next.

[Event_Horse]

@ASB_Stars

I like the “we will continue to evaluate” part. Leaves it nice and open to whatever comes next.

Actually, that part bothered me. I interpreted it as saying that they’d still stand behind him if this somehow all blows over (praying it DOESN’T!). Winstar is going to start offering shares in horses (including Country Grammer and Steinbeck) similar to MyRacehorse. The fact that they still might go back to Baffert has me saying no to buying any shares. (That and the fact that Country Grammer’s name is spelled wrong… True story - my sister’s high school English teacher had a grading rubric listed for the paper, and one of the categories the teacher listed was “grammer.”)

[Where_sMyWhite]

@Event_Horse

The fact that they still might go back to Baffert has me saying no to buying any shares.

As long as you realize that MRH had horses with BB and moved them to other trainers. But, no guarantee they won’t move them back. One colt, still for sale was targeted for BB and even now the trainer is TBD.

A risk we all take when we buy into microshare partnerships where we really have no say as an ‘owner’ other than our share price.

[Event_Horse]

@Where_sMyWhite

As long as you realize that MRH had horses with BB and moved them to other trainers. But, no guarantee they won’t move them back. One colt, still for sale was targeted for BB and even now the trainer is TBD.

I didn’t buy anything affiliated with Baffert.

[JBCool]

Pretty sure ASB_Stars was being sarcastic.

As for the grammar part, I had a great-aunt who really wanted to buy a Ford Falcon when they came out but refused b/c they mis-pronounced the word “falcon” in the commercial.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@Event_Horse

I didn’t buy anything affiliated with Baffert.

I hear you… I did before the whole MS thing hit the fan. I was on fence at that point about the one colt still targeted to BB. Then MRH/Spendthrift pulled 3 in training plus the colt for sale from BB (most went to Mandella IIRC) and I did buy into the colt.

I’d be just as happy if MRH/Spendthrift say off the BB train (they may as long as there are issues with BB as we are ‘owners’ in the traditional sense but ‘owners’ of microshares approved by the SEC).

[skydy]

Why is the KHRC taking so long to disqualify Medina Spririt from the Derby?
The split sample has been back for awhile now. The urine test is not an issue for the disqualification only perhaps for the punishment/suspension of Baffert.

[skydy]

Baffert fails to retain TOC board seat

[Event_Horse]

@Where_sMyWhite

I’d be just as happy if MRH/Spendthrift say off the BB train (they may as long as there are issues with BB as we are ‘owners’ in the traditional sense but ‘owners’ of microshares approved by the SEC).

I’m hoping the SEC issue will prevent MRH from ever going back to Baffert. They have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the investor’s interests, and BB is too much of a proven risk for DQs.

[endlessclimb]

How did they say it? Felcon?

[JBCool]

She insisted the correct pronunciation was “FALL-con” (like Millennium Falcon), not “F-A-A-L-con” (like talc).

[ASB_Stars]

Now, isn’t this interesting? The Jockey Club doesn’t appear to be a fan of Baffert’s…

The Jockey Club Offers Input in Baffert v. NYRA Case

[Where_sMyWhite]

@ASB_Stars

Now, isn’t this interesting? The Jockey Club doesn’t appear to be a fan of Baffert’s…

I could have guessed this simply because BB’s legal team was blocking the TJC brief

[ASB_Stars]

Yeah, but the mere fact that the Jockey Club wants to file the brief, and that they are saying that there will be no overlap between their brief and the NYRA is pretty damning. They obviously have their own issues with “Mr. TB Racing”.