Medina Spirit fails drug test

[Where_sMyWhite]

@2tempe

Unless - there is something NQR with the horse. Next he’ll be retired.

My uncharitable thought was not enough time to get that joint injection of betamethasone done before the Haskell.

If owners are really leaving BB because he’s been banned at tracks, maybe BB has a claim. If owners are leaving BB in spite of him being banned, because they don’t want to risk one of their horses getting DQd, loosing prestige, purse monies and breeding value then I think BB doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Maybe some of the owners don’t care about their horses and just want to win the KD. I wonder how many are in that camp vs thinking there must be a better way to win the KD.

[Event_Horse]

@2tempe

Re Monmouth, I thought somewhere I read that he was welcome to come there…it was a while back.

Yes, Monmouth welcomed him with open arms. This is BB’s decision that Medina Spirit isn’t ready.

@2tempe

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.

Yes, those were my thoughts exactly.

[On_the_Farm]

Discounting 2020 because of the pandemic, Baffert made all of SEVEN starts at NYRA tracks in 2019. He has no daily presence there and usually ships in his horses to John Terranova to race and then ship directly back to California. His legal team is throwing up a lot of false flags to portray Baffert as some sort of victim.

Looking further into the names of the owners who are on the “verge” of leaving, except for Starlight (who uses Todd Pletcher in NY) the effect of Baffert not having access to the entry box in NY is minimal at best. Two of the the owners listed haven’t had a NY start in years and another used Mott for a lone NY start. Poor Bob.

[Vivace1]

I think that the owners he named are just named for the hell of it and have no intention of leaving him. Below is a list of his two year olds that are nominated to the Del Mar Futurity. With the exception of Mwari, Midnight Mammoth, Lazer Beam, Kamui, Hopper, Gold Rush Candy, Flying Drummer, Enbarr, Corniche, and American Refugee they’re all SF/Starlight/Madaket horses.

[Mara]

I think you’re right. For one thing, Starlight and Sol Kumin already publicly said they plan to keep horses with Baffert and already have new acquisitions heading his way.
Methinks Baffert’s attorneys enlisted the assistance of these owners.

[ASB_Stars]

I understand your point. However, if the NYRA is found to have filed against Baffert wrongly, no matter how, he will be in a position to come back at them with a civil action that may have some legs to it. I can see where he would want to punish them for “falsely accusing” him. I am not saying that Baffert isn’t doing bad, wrong, and evil things. I am saying that he may want to use a civil suit to further his claims of innocence.

[ASB_Stars]

Without a doubt. How far will they go to look out for BB?

[Willesdon]

As an outsider, I find the entire saga really distasteful. The trainer was caught cheating - positive twice from two samples. How the illegal substance was administered, whether by injection or from a topical ointment, is redundant: it was there. The rules were broken. The trainer was responsible for the horse under his care. As such, the trainer should be punished.

Then comes a feeding frenzy of lawyers, suit and countersuit, nitpicking legal arguements that appear to be more about obsfustication, smokescreens and wheeler-dealing than any genuine attempt to deal with the problem. The horse in question has yet to be disqualified from the race he was doped to win. Squalid.

Racing is the victim here.

[On_the_Farm]

This is not about about Baffert having to prove his innocence. Rather it’s about NYRA’s right to exclude from their grounds and entry box someone, who in their opinion, is detrimental to the integrity of their racing product. They’re not trying to adjudicate his guilt or innocence for an incident in Kentucky, they’re looking out for their racing product and image. Eric Guillot was guilty of making some distasteful comments about a horse’s name, yet NYRA excluded him without issue.

I’m not saying you’ve done this, but far too many are looking at NYRA as a regulator and that is not their role. They’re a racetrack operator and are separate from the NYS Gaming Commission, who is the regulator in NY.

[EventerAJ]

@On_the_Farm

This is not about about Baffert having to prove his innocence. Rather it’s about NYRA’s right to exclude from their grounds and entry box someone, who in their opinion, is detrimental to the integrity of their racing product. They’re not trying to adjudicate his guilt or innocence for an incident in Kentucky, they’re looking out for their racing product and image. Eric Guillot was guilty of making some distasteful comments about a horse’s name, yet NYRA excluded him without issue.

I’m not saying you’ve done this, but far too many are looking at NYRA as a regulator and that is not their role. They’re a racetrack operator and are separate from the NYS Gaming Commission, who is the regulator in NY.

Bingo.

I’m not entirely sure of legal proceedings, but it was my understanding that NYRA banned him because BB brings distrust to bettors/owners and is a threat to the integrity of their racing product. If NYRA owns the tracks, they have the right to exclude anyone on their private property-- exactly as CDI has done, outside of the KHRC.

BB is free to go race at Finger Lakes with his duly issued NY racing license.

I do wonder why KHRC is taking so darn long to release a ruling on the dirty Derby samples. You know he is going to appeal and draw the process out over years…may as well get it started sooner rather than later.

[Willesdon]

Thank you, both, for the clarification.

I still think the whole sorry mess is a PR disaster and the longer it goes on the more rank the smell becomes.

[skydy]

In their court submission the NYRA gave the court statistics about Baffert’s entries in NY races. He doesn’t race there often, and the loss of purse money there won’t destroy his business.

I wonder if he is more upset about being kept away from the Saratoga sales. If he can’t have stalls anywhere in NY wouldn’t that keep him from choosing horses for his clients at the sales?

[Laurierace]

I personally think NYRA is within their right to bar anyone from their property as being detrimental to racing but I also think declaring Baffert as being detrimental to racing is a giant leap. This wasn’t cobra venom, at worst it was sloppy horsemanship. That is bound to happen sooner or later when you have that many moving parts and people involved.
NYRA perhaps more than Pimlico or Churchill have benefited from the Baffert gravy train over the years because the difference in attendance and handle when there is a TC bid on the line is astronomical. I do think MS should be DQed from the Derby but think NYRA should drop their ban.

[skydy]

I think their reasoning is the frequency of drug overages this year, not just the Derby fiasco.
If I was a horseplayer, I’d want the frequent flyers to be banned. Bettors lose money when horses are disqualified.

[Laurierace]

I understand what their reasoning is, I just don’t agree with it. I also don’t agree that bettors lose money when horses are DQed for drug infractions. The bets are paid out long before it gets to that point.

[frugalannie]

I’m not an expert, but I think the issue is that it’s not a level playing (racing) field. Bettors should be able to rely on handicapping being the only leveler on a field, and that’s published.

[Laurierace]

That is not going to happen. Ever.

[frugalannie]

One can hope. And the illusion must be maintained.

[Event_Horse]

@Laurierace

I also don’t agree that bettors lose money when horses are DQed for drug infractions. The bets are paid out long before it gets to that point.

I think what the poster meant is that people who bet on the horse who came in 2nd who later gets bumped up to 1st because of a DQ end up frustrated and angry because they lost and bets don’t get paid out after the fact due to DQs. I’m sure everyone who bet on Mandaloun feels cheated. And those who bet on Hot Rod Charlie or Essential Quality to show or place as they will (hopefully!) move up in the placings.

Now, with all the online betting that exists, it would be possible to track down all the online bettors affected… but, unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.

Now, if (and I know this won’t happen either) there was a policy where the online payouts would be subtracted from accounts after a DQ like this one, there might be enough of an uproar to finally clean up the sport. If nothing else, Baffert would have far fewer supporters selling their “I stand with Bob” shirts.

[Laurierace]

@frugalannie

One can hope. And the illusion must be maintained.

It is still an illusion though. The best horse doesn’t always win. I can give you so many incidences that happened to me personally where the race didn’t turn out like it “should” have. That’s actually what people like about horse racing though really. Anything can happen after the gates open up.