For those that like to slog through the actual court filings;
I debated on where to put this.
One of the colts for sale on MRH has been a trainer TBD for a while (since 4 others were pulled from BB and given to other trainers). Silverpocketsfull 19 had been targeted toward BB.
Today MRH announced that Silverpocketsfull 19 will continue rehab and re-conditioning and will be going to Pletcher later this summer. (Had surgery six weeks ago for a P1 chip removal with prognosis good to return to training/racing).
Part of the Jockey Club’s argument in their amicus brief is that BB’s inability to run horses on the east coast (NY) will not appreciably affect his income. Obviously, they are looking for that argument in a civil action. However, if BB being “shunned” insofar as getting horses sent to him, and he can use the argument that it is because they have damaged his reputation, he could have some traction.
Of course, no one screwed BB but him. But that won’t stop lawsuits from flying.
From the WaPo article:
“The way this case was handled was not a favor for Bob Baffert,” Arthur said. “The way this case was handled was out of respect for Justify.”
Lines like that make me see red. You respect a horse by treating it well, not by making sure it can run in a particular race under a big name trainer. Justify didn’t know what the Triple Crown was or what a positive drug test was. Arguably immediately releasing a positive drug test in order to scare other trainers out of similar behavior does far more to respect this horse and every other horse. But if we anthropomorphize the horsey we can pretend racing him under a drugging trainer is what he would want! Anything to win!
I’m going to say it: Bob Baffert is proof to me that horse racing is broken and it can’t be unbroken.
the ones horse that i wish would get massive books of mares is Hoppertunity. Feel like he was one of the most underrated horses of recent times; living in the shadows of horse’s like Justify and American Pharoah
$4,700,00 in earnings. 34 starts. 9 wins. 8 places. 5 Shows
18 wins or places in graded stakes
at 7 was still winning graded stakes
He may have lived in Bob’s barn but he was always one of my favorites. he was sound and truly gutsy.
If you truly want to see red; go read some of the comment sections on social media beneath these Bob Baffert Articles being posted by all of the major Thoroughbred publications
It is mind boggling that amount of people that are angry and believe Bob Baffert is in the right. People that believe that a rash ointment shouldn’t even be causing this much of a stir. People think that Bob Baffert is the racing God and shame on Churchill and NYRA for doing this to him.
A) Last I checked; the substance found in the ointment is banned. Regardless of use; its banned. This is cut and dry to me. How do others not see or understand this?
B) Bob Baffert is responsible for the horses within his stable, their care, their treatments. He is also fully responsible for making sure proper withdrawal periods are followedHis recent string of positives indicates he is presently not capable of knowing or keeping track of what type of drugs are being used within his stable.
C) The NYRA is its own racing non-profit racing corp that oversees and operates racing at the three largest TB tracks in NY. As far as I know; they can say who can and cannot race at their tracks however they see fit. It is not up to the government to decide one way or the other and I believe would be a conflict of rights if they did? How can Bob have grounds to sue against this? This is no different than USEF banning people like George Morris (Safesport findings) or Andy Kocher (Animal abuse in competition) under grounds of protecting the equine athletes of the sport and youth in training. NYRA can ban him to protect their betting crowd until KHRB meets a decision and also take a stand on animal welfare. Why is this not how it is playing out in the courts?
D) When the H*LL is kentucky going to make a decision on the Derby?
If I had to guess, most of those people commenting know very little about horse racing and their knowledge of Bob Baffert comes from the feel good stories that the TV network fills the air with during the big races, so their only know is how amazing he is.
(This is not me saying you should not be floored by their comments, or that BB is not in the wrong here, or anything close to that.)
I think that while there is obviously a pattern of issues behind Baffert, his attorney made a hell of a case for why NYRA needs to back down.
The hearing is on Monday and the judge told Baffert that it would behoove him to be present.
If you truly want to see red; go read some of the comment sections on social media beneath these Bob Baffert Articles being posted by all of the major Thoroughbred publications
I gave up reading comment sections for insert some atheist holiday here so no thanks. 
(Too many near misses with giving myself an aneurysm.)
You’ve got a point there. I was thinking the same as I read the article. Not that I agree.
I feel sorry for Baffert’s son Bode. The kid seems to really be into racing and horses. I believe he worships his Dad and it’s sad that Bob has set such a terrible example. Not only in his ‘training’ tactics, but also how to act when you’ve been caught.
He has bred over 100 mares a year since retiring. While those aren’t Uncle Mo numbers, that’s insanity for a horse in the mid-Atlantic.
If Bafferts attorney can prove that the NYRA ban wasn’t righteous, and Baffert can substantiate that he has lost potential income from race wins, along with his day money, he is going to wipe the floor with the NYRA.
How much of a slam dunk is the constitutional argument to make which requires the NYRA to be standing in for the State? ( I am guessing there may already be case law on that?)
After reading the submissions from each side, I had the impression that the NYRA had a good case. We’ll see. I’m not qualified to judge but I thought they had some case law back up on their side as well.
Re Monmouth, I thought somewhere I read that he was welcome to come there…it was a while back.
Re the Haskell - the race is too soon? He’s only breezed once since mid May? Last I checked, Big Name Trainers pretty well know when the Haskell is, so that’s a dumb answer. You’d think he would be training his horses even with the mess that’s going on. Unless - there is something NQR with the horse. Next he’ll be retired.
