I guess I assumed it was a post race test, blanket pre-race testing makes more sense. Thank you.
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A Danish trainer got a 4 year ban for much less than that, I am happy it is much stricter here. We canât forget how much things like this hurt racing.
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Again, Bob? Really?
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He always has an excuse. :uhoh:
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Gotta be wondering why Bob has such a problem with âcontaminationâ when most trainers donâtâŠ
:rolleyes:
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And itâs always the same excuse. His barn must be the most contaminated place at Santa Anita. :rolleyes:
I really wish the CHRB would stop letting him slide by. If this was any other trainer, there would be repercussions.
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Why is a groom sick with COVID, actively suffering from symptoms (thus the cough syrup) even allowed to work in the barns? Isnât that against track protocol? No quarantine? And, ok, sick groom is workingâŠMUST be wearing a mask, so not like he is coughing and sneezing all up in the horseâs face or feed. Did he pour Robitussin on his hands and all over the bit? In the oats? Soak the tongue tie in grape Dimetapp?
Olâ Bob seems to have an awful lot of environmental contamination, with the jimsonweed, Lidocaine, and now dextromethorphan. Maybe the EPA can help him out, if the CHRB wonâtâŠ
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I hope his owners start getting just as tired of the excuses.
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Iâm sure his explanation would interest both the local press and the Health Department.
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Unfortunately, they donât seem to, as long as their horses keep winning. :no:
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Maybe if they keep getting their numbers taken down and have to keep returning purses they will change their priorities. However, I agree I donât see any of his longtime owners changing their opinions regardless.
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This absolutely⊠why BB and no other trainer; heâs really racking up âcontaminationâ drug positives, maybe he needs a new barn manager with stricter protocols in the barn area?
I know he appears to get results but if the winners end up being tied to positive drug tests, how effective a trainer is he really?
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Iâm all in favor of giving people the benefit of the doubt, but if this is REALLY all, what, four different kinds of environmental contamination, he needs to fire everyone in the barn and get some new help because yeesh.
When the topic is drugs in horses it is, unfortunately, unwise to give people the benefit of the doubt. It only leads to favoritism and/or cheating.
The rules need to be hard and fast, so everyone knows not to break them and that they will be held accountable if they do. As so many of us have said before, most everyone else seems to be capable of keeping their horses from being contaminated. 
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What boggles my mind is how he hasnât appeared to take any action to remedy or prevent these issues from occurring again. Unless I have missed it?
For comparison: a few years ago, one of Baffertâs peers, who also has a dubious reputation, had a bad test and subsequent penalty from (alleged) environmental contamination. Said peer put out a very professional statement maintaining his innocence and outlining the actions that would be taken to prevent it from happening again. To my knowledge, said trainer hasnât had that type of issue since that time while operating a larger stable also out of CA.
Baffert, on the other hand, hashtags #2020sucks as his response to the situation. Like danceronice, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt⊠but if it looks like a duck, well then we all know how that saying ends.
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No, you havenât missed it. Some platitudes were offered but nothing of substance.
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt as well :yes:. However, excusing Baffert is difficult when horses that he is paid to train and run, are repeatedly testing positive for substances at levels that are not allowed on race day. There is really no excuse for this level of negligence. If Baffertâs excuse is true I certainly donât blame the groom. Baffertâs admission that he had symptomatic COV!ID infected employees working in his barn at Santa Anita is just beyond the pale and certainly not the groomâs fault.
Baffertâs offhand comments make him look (at best) like an entitled ass who knows he wonât be held accountable for his sloppy stable management. At worst, he looks like a crook that is used to getting away with the cheat. Unfortunately, either way, he continues to draw unfavorable attention to racing at a time racing needs it least.
He laughs this off, but maybe someday someone will make him understand the he needs for the horses sake, to pay more attention to the medication rules, and why it is important that trainers abide by them. Of course people usually show their true colors at his age, so hoping for a change in philosophy is probably unreasonable on my part.
. Any trainer that continues to give thyroxine to horses as they continue to die around him and only stops when the PTB finally mention the fact that, hey Bob, youâve got a lot of dead horses there⊠is not the sort of person to which I can give the benefit of the doubt.:no:
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To me, one of the most appalling things was the statement put out by Baffertâs lawyer that said, ââŠjust another case of contaminationâŠâ like, you know, just another day at the office. Business as usual.
The lawyer sounded like he was bored with the whole situation: we do something, you catch us, we donât get punished. Yawn. Why bother. :mad:
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This goes much farther and much deeper than purse re-distribution. The betting public has just about had enough of being cheated. I dont know how much more the big bettors in our game will stay. Not to mention owners (hello Laurien) running against trainers who get positives over and over. I dont know when something will be done about Baffert, but he has a long long history of this. We know California wont do squat. We need a central governing body, but we may be running out of time.
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âŠand yet, weâll probably have to suffer through 25 more gushing promo pieces about and interviews with BB on the Breederâs Cup telecast. Ew.
Amen.
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