Baffert is pulling out the stops.
Are you saying that the KHRC is suspending him in part because of violations that happened outside of their jurisdiction? That, I find confusing. Shouldn’t those authorities address those violations directly?
Good, Bob. Retire. Spend time playing your guitar and hanging out with celebrities. Thoroughbred racing won’t collapse without you. It may do so someday for a myriad of other reasons, but your absence won’t be one of them.
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They should, but they won’t–because BB has influence in lots of high places.
The KHRC penalized him not just for the drug problem in KY but for a pattern of continuous bad behavior. Like a judge might let a defendant off lightly for a first offense, but would throw the book at someone who’d committed 4 previous crimes in the past year.
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She was sold to WinStar. She’s had 3 foals since 2017. They must think a lot of her. She’s been bred to Tapit, Tiznow and Pioneerof the Nile.
Her foals have not sold above 5 figures so far.
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On the whole, in society in general, this level of maturity seems to have fallen out of favor, along with being a gracious loser.
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Not with everyone though. The vast majority of trainers with medication overages seem to pay their fine and sit out their few days of suspension (if they are given a suspension.)
If they rarely have an overage they don’t have the book thrown at them like Baffert is experiencing.
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You guys probably already know my opinion but I really don’t like them essentially changing the rules as we know them. I 100% believe that the Derby is no different than a $5000 claimer and if it is a DQ in a claimer it’s a DQ in the Derby. But I also believe if you automatically get a stay pending appeal for any other race you get one for an appeal in the Derby. I understand they are pissed, rightly so as this is a giant stain on the whole industry but you still follow the rules. If anything this gives him basis for appeal to a higher court as it obviously is prejudicial.
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I completely agree. I do find it interesting that they are stating that the cases with Gamine and Charletan are part of their reasoning. While I understand that it demonstrates a pattern, I am not sure why they feel that they should be able to punish Baffert more seriously than the jurisdiction in which those issues actually took place.
Is there really a rule requiring a stay though? I thought it was common practice, but not a rule.
If it’s not a rule, but is up to the KHRBs discretion, their feelings that this is a more serious case may easily persuade a judge that it is not Baffert himself, but it is what he’s done, that has led them to be more harsh with their penalties.
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No there isn’t a rule but if it has never not been granted in the history of ever that is even better than a rule, it’s a given.
Have you seen the KHRB penalty guidelines for length of suspension? The number of violations aren’t specified to have to have occurred in Kentucky.
Remember one of Gamines positives was in the Kentucky Oaks where she ran third but was disqualified for betamethasone.
Won’t the lawyers say that no horse in the last however many decades that has won the Derby has tested positive, so this would obviously be an exceptional case?
They might be sympathetic to Kentucky for not wanting him in the Derby.
This is what makes me wonder about possible sympathy from the judge for the KRHC’s position;
From the BloodHorse;
In court earlier this week, Wingate stated that he thought a stay was virtually automatic in his experience in dealing with contested KHRC rulings. However, he acknowledged the circumstances of this ongoing case differ from many disputed KHRC rulings, an apparent reference to the Derby and Baffert. He speculated that Baffert and his legal team may wish to “drag this thing out.”
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The article said something about the horse’s owner forfeiting the prize money. Does that mean they already paid it to him and he has to return it? Or did they never pay it to him in the first place pending the results of the drug test?
Normally the purse is held if the test comes back hot for something so I assume that is what happened in this case but don’t know that for sure. Sometimes they hold everyone’s in the whole race which really pisses you off if you weren’t the one with the bad test. My guess is the paid out the rest and held his but I have been wrong about just about everything so who knows.
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Oh, that would be super vexing.
Thanks for the information.
