The court became involved and ordered the split of the urine sample and how it was to be transported etc… Ridiculous. His blood tested positive for the drug, period.
Why is this so difficult for them to deal with?
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Something stinks. The lab claims not to know about the court order that it agreed to abide by? 
3, 2, 1, Baffert is off the hook!
This is incredible. Not incredibly good, incredibly bad.
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I don’t agree. I think this makes the entire urine test diversion, suspect.
Back to the NYRA decision,
It won’t affect the the Churchill ban at all nor will it affect the Derby decision by the KHRC. If the NYRA gives Baffert an “unbiased” hearing they can ban him again.
Interesting about the stalls…
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Interesting article shows that the NYRA is working on a due process protocol.
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So here the latest from Kentucky!
And the beat goes on…
This is absolutely nuts…
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“contaminated when an accompanying blood sample spilled upon it when the package carrying the items was damaged in transit…”
If nothing else, I find it amazing how often the word “contaminated” shows up in every single testing event in which Baffert is a part of. And its always some bizarre incident of contamination. . Poppyseed bagel, urine in hay, cough medicine taken by groom, etc.
Makes you wonder why hundreds of other horses, all across the earth, (unless they live inside a bubble), don’t have similar problems, and all the time, too, since apparently, it’s very common to contaminate a horse, contaminate feed, contaminate hay, contaminate a blood sample being shipped, etc.
Surprised this isn’t in the news after every big stakes race involving most every racehorse. but somehow it happens on a very regular basis in the Baffert universe.
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Wow, BB and company are really getting desperate with the “blood sample contamination” theories and I am infuriated this fiasco has gone on this long. It seems that BB really is untouchable and catered to…it’s a joke.
I work a part time job at a local standardbred track collecting urine samples for drug testing. Our protocol is to be as careful and accurate as possible with collecting and handling samples.
We individually bag all urine samples when sending to the lab. The tubes containing blood are put into a small plastic container, sealed with an initialed label and then bagged individually as well. There is NO WAY a urine sample would be contaminated by spillage of blood…this is just some dreamed up scenario.
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Don’t I remember something about Baffert and the owners taking possession of the sample at one point, physical or otherwise? Or was it just their responsibility to send it to the testing lab?
So, will Bob get his legal fees reimbursed?
This whole situation just makes me so mad. Why don’t the tracks stand up to him? Why didn’t the NYRA give him a hearing after he got his injunction–and then ban him again?
Unfortunately, the media has made Bob Baffert the public face of horse racing. When a track announces (again) that he’s been caught cheating, it makes headlines everywhere–and makes the general public think that all trainers must cheat since there are never any repercussions for his wrongdoings.
KHRC, NYRA, CD all talk big talk–for a day or two. Then they decide they’re afraid of Baffert’s lawyers. (Really, they never see those lawsuits coming?)
At this point everyone else who owns racehorses may as well just acknowledge that he’s bulletproof. And that there is no level playing field because Baffert owns the ball, the goalposts, and the referees.
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What has happened with Medina Spirit? Will he still be racing? or stud duty? or find another job for him?
I read on Bloodhorse that they were looking at a couple of different options for him in terms of racing. No mention of retirement in the article.
This is so true, and equally sad. It will be interesting to see if his attorneys can make the NYRA pay for his attorneys fees.
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I think you nailed it down pretty well here.
I just have a dififcult time feeling sorry for any of the tracks, since there have been so MANY who have been complicit in allowing Baffert to be “the face of U.S. racing.” Maybe they didn’t get the face they wanted after all was said and done, but they sure wanted one.
My heart goes out to all the extremely hard-working, hard-trying trainers, backside workers, etc. who have had no shot in a field that is far from level. I feel sorry for the horses who gave their very best, too.
This isn’t far afield from trying to run a business on a street where the mafia has complete control of your neighborhood.
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