I don’t know if banning a trainer, whose horse tested positive at Churchill Downs for substances banned on race day, in Churchill Downs most famous race, could be considered arbitrary.
Not the same circumstance, but Stronich-owned Santa Anita banned Jerry Hollendorfer. He has sued once or twice to be allowed to race there, but so far he hasn’t won.
Hollendorfer Ruled Off by The Stronach Group - BloodHorse
Hollendorfer Feeling Baffert’s Pain as Del Mar Looms - BloodHorse
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Hopefully if/when HISA is in place there will be general rules and it won’t be the wild west like it is now. 
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Thanks- I saw that! I am assuming that there is no reciprocity with other tracks, not owned by Stronach?
However, I guess I am wondering if there has been any other trainer told that not only could they not race at their track(s), they couldn’t have horses in their care accumulate any points to compete. I guess you could do it with the Breeder’s Cup- where they need points, or a win, to be eligible. I guess I am trying to understand how this is going to stand up.
Baffert has NOT been a good boy, but unless there is a way to have exactly the same rules and regulations apply to everyone, I am confused by CDI’s approach.
Agreed!
I get it- but it isn’t a done deal-yet. Yes, I get that it’s a matter of time.
If this was something in the world outside of horses, all testing of whatever nature would probably need to be done, done, DONE, before you could make these moves, right? I’ve always said that the rules in the horse business are that there aren’t any…but this is wild!
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The urine testing is only happening because BB wants to prove that the betamethasone was from the ointment and not a joint injection. They aren’t arguing that it wasn’t in the horses system, just about how it got there. CD doesn’t care how it got there, it was there and it shouldn’t have been.
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The Kentucky Derby points have no value beyond their ability to get a horse into the KY Derby. So if the horse isn’t eligible to run in the Derby–which all Baffert trained horses currently are not–there is no reason for them to need points. There’s nothing they could use them for.
CDI instituted the point qualifying system 5-6 years ago–before that eligibility was determined by graded stakes earnings. It’s CD’s system and CD’s race, they can police it however they want.
CD’s approach is “your bad reputation is sullying our big race and we don’t like it, so take your marbles and go home.”
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Or, “your drug positive horse that broke the rules in our big race has brought our big race into disrepute, has brought us bad publicity, and we’re not going to be seen doing nothing about it.” 
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So what is Baffert’s allure for owners? You can assume he is not hands on directly supervising the training based on the number of horses he has-is his training methods that unique and results in his “success” or is it success begets success syndrome?
I am shocked he keeps horses that have been disqualified(or pending) if nothing else (even assuming there was no intent to improve performance), it reflects he keeps a sloppy shed-row and sloppy no-attention-to-detail help. Neither explanation is a good look for someone training million dollar horses. Excellent horsemen are a combination of several factors but is generally the result of a certain genius in seeing things the rest of us do not along with meticulous attention to detail and a good dummy-proof barn protocol.
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I am surprised as well at the number of people that stayed with him after all the overages and DQs, though many people didn’t.Gary and Mary West moved Life is Good to Todd Pletcher, for example.
He has a very good win percentage. Unusually good at times. 
That, combined with the success begets success syndrome is probably it. It seemed as if it was a feather in your cap (for some people) to have him as your trainer. Not so much anymore.
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He wins.
Most people who own racehorses have absolutely no knowledge of horses or horsemanship so they judge by win rates.
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Last time I looked, BB has far fewer horses in training than other trainers like Todd Pletcher (I forget now how many I looked at). And BB trains really only at Santa Anita and Los Al. He doesn’t really have a string even at Golden Gate Fields (or up north in northern Cal.)
I think it’s because he ‘wins’. Shrug. He’s good at getting horses to gun out of the gate. He likes top youngsters.
Right now MRH has two of the six in the Fasig-Tipton Select Six with Trainer ‘TBD’. I am on pins and needles that they do NOT give either Who Runs The World or Cable Boss to BB. It would just kill me. There are plenty of other top flight trainers that don’t have sloppy barn practices causing horses to test positive.
Of the remaining four, Todd has 3 and Brad Cox has 1.
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Interesting article on his training methods.
I guess I assumed he was not hands-on as he seemed to not take responsibility for the shed-row management failures he says are behind the positives (even though of course as trainer he is totally responsible) .
You are right that Pletcher is listed as having over 200 horses in training…I cannot find any info on Baffert but he does not seem to run as many, so less horses, true. (But Golden Gate does have cheaper purses so might not attract his caliber horses?)
I guess we knew from his training of Max Security that he drills them and I guess they either hold up or not. So he is not going to run a short horse. Or run a horse fit. Maybe he is all that and more but he has cost owners’ money.
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This is the rub for me. BB is responsible. He can make excuses and pass the buck but that’s all it is. Other trainers with far more horses in training (Pletcher and Asmussen come to mind) don’t seem to have the same sloppy barn practices.
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Does BB really have sloppy barn practices? Or, is that his excuse? That “others” make boo boo’s?
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That seemed to be his excuse at the start of this sorry saga. At first he had “no idea” how his horse tested positive then about three days later “someone else” had used a (canine) topical cream on a skin problem.
Remember him saying that he was going to get “the best” veterinary help to keep the “contaminations” from happening?
What he actually got was a vet who didn’t know and didn’t care to find out the ingredients of the med he was prescribing, for a horse being aimed for the Derby (if the ointment story is to be believed.)
I’ve noticed that B.Flay, who is fairly knowledgeable about racing and breeding, doesn’t have any of his current runners with Baffert.
As @Where_sMyWhite mentioned MRH seems to be avoiding him as well.
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