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 canāt 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 ācontaminationā when most trainers donātā¦
:rolleyes:
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And itās 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? Isnāt that against track protocol? No quarantine? And, ok, sick groom is workingā¦MUST be wearing a mask, so not like he is coughing and sneezing all up in the horseās 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?
Olā 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 wonātā¦
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I hope his owners start getting just as tired of the excuses.
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Iām sure his explanation would interest both the local press and the Health Department.
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Unfortunately, they donāt 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 donāt see any of his longtime owners changing their opinions regardless.
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This absolutelyā¦ why BB and no other trainer; heās really racking up ācontaminationā 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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Iām 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 hasnāt 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 Baffertās 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 hasnāt 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 doubtā¦ but if it looks like a duck, well then we all know how that saying ends.
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No, you havenāt 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 Baffertās excuse is true I certainly donāt blame the groom. Baffertās 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 groomās fault.
Baffertās offhand comments make him look (at best) like an entitled ass who knows he wonāt 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, youāve got a lot of dead horses thereā¦ 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 Baffertās lawyer that said, āā¦just another case of contaminationā¦ā 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 donāt 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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ā¦and yet, weāll probably have to suffer through 25 more gushing promo pieces about and interviews with BB on the Breederās Cup telecast. Ew.
Amen.
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